What is this feeling?

Whenever I go outside, like in public I'm always paranoid that people are watching me, judging me.
Like sometimes if I go to a space with a lot of people and I walk past someone and they happen to smile or laugh in my vicinity I default to assuming they're making fun of me or something.
I know that this might all be in my head, but I can't shake the feeling.
Even when I step out to go get mail or something in my neighborhood I always feel like maybe someone is watching me do that from their window.
It makes me feel really uncomfortable and paranoid.
Is this a serious problem? Have any of you had this happen to you before?

Attached: it never ends..... the pain....the suffering.jpg (479x282, 38K)

i have had this, if you can, you need to realize that most people dont care that much to judge you, they would still accept you anyways, if you cant stop it then i would go to a doctor to get a medication for anxiety it sounds like you have a social anxiety or something

i have the same shit, im 28 year old and nothing really helped me. however i noticed sometimes its a breathing issue, because ima smoker and my breathing is shit, but when i try to quit smoking, i feel alot easier in these scenarios, also nofap helps abit too, offcourse drugs like xanax make you feel like god, but i do not advice you to use it, coz tolerance builds so freakin fast, ive also tried antidepressants and they were somewhat helpful, making me more outgoing and relaxed, but after some time i just got back to my old anxious and paranoid self.. sad world

>anxiety
Is this really the name of this feeling?
I thought that was something else.
I don't get heavy breathing symptoms or whatever, I just kinda start looking around at my surroundings and see if anyone is looking at me.
Or I just kinda try to block everything out and continue my business.

you should definitely try the antidepressants many of them help anxiety, you should know that nobody is judging you, you can also get a therapist to talk about your social anxiety

It's called social anxiety and it stems from insecurity, low self esteem, or inherent psychological issues. Paranoia is sometimes but not always linked to schizophrenia.

Curious, since when did you start feeling this way?

I've always had this fear of going to the doctor for medication.
I don't want to get hooked on pills, especially with stuff like overperscription and the side effects that come with them.
Along with the fact that I've glimpsed people who've been on these things throughout my life and I don't want to end up that way.

For some people its almost instinctual. It becomes so severe they can't reason it away. You don't know if you're in someone's mind or not and you don't know what they're thinking. What these people fear is criticism and negative opinions in general.

you should get a therapist then it would defiantly help, you can tell them about your thoughts without fear of anyone else knowing. hopefully you will be able to realize that nobody is judging you even if they are it doesn't matter too much.

I guess it's always kinda been there, but it sometimes in waves.
As a kid I was super outgoing and really talkative and hyperactive but I used to garner a lot of negative attention from people because of stupid stuff I would do.
This often resulted with me in trouble and my peers mocking me.
I would say around 7th or 8th grade was when that started changing.
Due to my past actions I had gained a type of reputation that was hard to shake off.
That's when I realized that my actions created a preconceived version of myself in the minds of others.

I've been really digging deep over the last few months tyring to sort this all out, and I think I'm getting closer to understanding it all, but I just felt like getting real opinions on it and Jow Forums's anonymity was the best way to do this for me.

This is called paranoid schizophrenia. No, not everyone has the same symptoms, no not all of it is seeing dragons and aliens and shit. It would seem to be a mild case, but a case of paranoid schizophrenia no less.

they do help, but cost alot too

For this shit as i say it could be a breathing issue, i know it sounds stupid, but believe me the way you breath gives oxygen to brains, and if brain is oxygen starved ur gonna get anxious and paranoid. basically you could try antidepressants and see if they help, its not a demon drug that will destroy ur soul, but stay away from dem xanaxs

I've been thinking about that for a while now.
iirc my school offers free therapy sessions each semester, but I'm out until August.

lol no? ive been feeling like OP described nearly all my adult life, but i lead a normal life, with job, study and lots of responsabilities. so could i do all that if i was shizophrenic? i dont think so

OP here, just want to clarify that although this has been a problem throughout a significant portion of my life it doesn't inhibit me from functioning in most scenarios.
I can get by in most social situations with people I know, but I sometimes freeze up when this feeling catches up to me or I'm not focusing my attention elsewhere.
Like I said in the other post it comes in waves.
some days I'm completely fine other days I'll walk outside and feel like I'm being watched.

Yes. It, like all mental illness is a spectrum condition. Some are more functional than others. Being moderately functional doesn't magically invalidate the fact that you're mentally ill. The fact that you automatically assume that means you subconsciously know it's true. If it weren't true you wouldn't feel the need to defend against it.
That doesn't affect my statement, you're mentally ill and should seek professional assistance.

That depends though user, OP didn't say he hallucinates things that don't really happen so I wouldn't put it past this being a severe case of social anxiety.

just having delusions doesn't qualify you for schizophrenia, you would also need an additional symptom like hallucinations

not all mental illneses have spectrum, never heard somebody say ''oh yeah that dude is just a little bit shizophrenic". Depression mixed with social anxiety or agrophobia? maybe

You're overly introspective because you lack self confidence. The latter could probably be because you're a neckbeard retard, or something of that sort.

A bad case of anxiety fits the bill just right and assumes less.

I might be similar to you. I was a little weird as a kid but I had no problem talking to other people and often did stupid shit to get a laugh, though I don't think I was super outgoing. It changed in middle school, when a combination of being ostracized, failing every class, and changing brain chemistry really fucked me up. I started hiding away in the corner of the school to eat lunch where nobody can see me, etc... I became a recluse and became quite depressed over time and so my teenage years were pretty shit.

In parts of college, I would go hungry instead of eating at the dining hall if somebody I knew was working the counter. At night, I would sprint down the dorm hall so I have less chance of happening across somebody. Yeah I was fucking weird, but I've really turned things around since.

What else is affecting you. How is your self esteem? Thoughts and worries about your future? How old are you?

No, this is not paranoid schizophrenia.
It's social anxiety like many others in the thread are saying.
It's not that uncommon

You have agoraphobia

Firstly, only an idiot would try to diagnose you from other the internet. Don't listen to anybody who is trying to tell you that you have something. They have neither the knowledge nor training to diagnose you.

Secondly, go see a professional. It could be a number of different things. It could be as simple as anxiety or more complicated than that. The point is that what you're experiencing is not normal. You need to be screened by a mental health specialist immediately. As far as your fear of medication goes I always tell my clients this; medication, in some situations is a trade off. You need to ask yourself what is worse, the possibility of experiencing some light side effects from medication or continuing to live your life being crippled by extreme anxiety and paranoia? Its up to you but to me the answer seems pretty easy.

>How is your self esteem?
Normally not that bad, as far as I know the people around me (friends,peers,coworkers,etc) like me.
My family members know something's up though, but don't really probe into it too much outside the occasional "are you alright?" when I slip up.
Nowadays I'm aware of where I stand in my social circles so I usually base my level of self-esteem around that.
Like with certain groups of people I might have a higher status than when I'm with others so I tend to view myself based on that.

>Thoughts and worries about your future?
I'm just trying to find work right now, I'm back home after 1 year at college so this summer I'm being more productive.
I'm really trying to get myself setup to be in a stable position in the future.
There's a lot I want to do so I'm trying to focus on teaching myself all the necessary skills to reach those goals with the little time I have.

>How old are you?
19

>Firstly, only an idiot would try to diagnose you from other the internet.
I agree wholeheartedly on that, but It'll be a while until I have the chance to see a professional so I thought I'd pop in on Jow Forums to get some insight.
I tend to think through this kinda stuff by using other people since I can only get so far thinking by myself.
Thanks for the tips though.