Why do I always feel like people are laughing at me when I don't hear it?

I cannot speak for anyone else, but for me, I suffer from anxiety and it always seems to really be an issue when I am around other people. If I have to walk into a crowded room, I feel as if everyone is judging me, even whispering about me. Or just the simple thought of having to do something or meet someone new, I will physically start to tremble and my hands get cold my heart races. I thankfully have been able to learn some self help techniques that have been a life changer for me. The best thing I ever did, and I would have laughed at anyone who said I would enjoy it, is journaling. I write down everything, important or not good or bad. Write it down get it out of mind and take its power away. Does it fix my life? No. Does it help? Immensely. Also, you have come to just the place to talk freely without judgement or opinions. You can vent and even get professional help if you desire to do so. I really hope everything works out for the best! I have to say you are truly brave for sharing, thank you for that!

There could be a lot of reasons that cause you to feel this way. At some point I think we have all felt this way. Feeling like others are laughing at you when you don't hear it makes me curious if you experience anxiety in social settings. Anxiety in social settings may have developed from having negative experiences in the past in social settings or maybe you fear what others think. We all have a desire to feel like we belong and are accepted. Some of us struggle with this fear more than others because in our relationship with family or friends we feel criticized. If we internalize criticism it may show up in our self-talk, so we assume everyone is constantly judging us.

I can definitely relate to this question. I used to have the most severe social anxiety (and still have a bit of it) but for me it was having a low self esteem and caring so much about what others thought of me. I was always the second choice in my friend group and felt like I wasn't liked or worthy of love. There is no easy answer to this question, but practicing self love is a good place to start. Instead of doing things to change how you are perceived by others, do things for yourself because you want to treat yourself well. Remember that the opinions of other people don't matter at the end of the day--if you are happy then who cares whether other people are laughing at you? ;)

It could be because you feel really anxious around people and that you are afraid of not meeting their expectations. You feel like people will only see you as a failure and because of that you think that people are judging you for everything that you did or did not do 24/7. It could also be a response from a past trauma of being bullied or being verbally abused and hence you feel like you are being laughed at because there is might be an inner belief that you are inferior and that people won’t see you as an equal or someone to be taken seriously.

In my experience, we can broadcast our own fears and embarrassments onto the world around us. This can make it seem like we are either constantly being watched, judged, or in this case laughed at. This is called the "spotlight effect" is social psychology! I personally use to struggle with how I thought others perceived my clothes, and often felt like I was being mocked behind my back. That all changed when I was wearing an outfit I wasn't particularly proud of and a causal acquaintance mentioned she liked my t-shirt. I realized that most people aren't judging or mocking us and in reality most people notice the positive things about us than the negative.

There's a saying that we don't see things as they are. We see things as we are. When we have trouble seeing the good in us, we reflect that perspective to others around us, and our minds unconsciously perceive that as people are looking down on us. If we've been through some bad experience of social interaction, our mind might also unconsciously reflect that on our current situation and giving us an impression that people are looking down on us. Some people can be mean, disrespectful, rude, harsh, or demeaning. But all the things those people do can only get to us when we don't have the strength to look up to ourselves.

Anxiety can be really hard to work on. Anxiety even if it’s underlying can feel like it’s cured and then come up in different situations without you realizing. I know some people feel that people are looking/staring at them even if they can’t see it happening. You may feel this way because you’re afraid they’re judging you. From personal experience I have felt like people are looking at me even when they’re not because I’ve been so insecure with myself. How I’ve tried to work on it is becoming more comfortable with myself, so even if you feel like those people are staring at you you won’t care as much.