The Facebook "Seen" message gives me a lot of anxiety! When I see that the person has "seen" the message, but does not reply, I start thinking about all the possible reasons why they would 'ignore' me... Does anyone else feel this? If so, how do you cope?

Try to keep in mind that social media isn't the same as a real-life face-to-face interaction. Someone not replying to a message right away is NOT the same thing as them ignoring you in real life, even though it feels that way. It's always a good policy to put yourself in someone else's shoes and give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they're at work or school and they had time to glance at their phone, but not time to type out a reply. There could be a million reasons why they don't reply right away, so try not to assume!

It happens to lots of us. Sometimes it can just be because that person wants you to know that they have seen your message but they are busy so will reply later - there are many possible explanations so don't beat yourself up about it I'm sure they will reply soon.

Yes, I can definitely relate to this. Sometimes I’m unable to stop the thought cycle but when this happens I try to recognise it and accept I’m having the thoughts. Then I sit and breathe for a while and try to calm myself.

Yes, this is actually very common among anxiety. What helps me is just talking to other loved ones and understand that people sometimes can't respond right away, or know how to respond, and that's okay.

I think the anxiety that comes from the seen message may be miswired in that concept. It was intended for people to know only if the message was seen “whew, glad they saw it.” So that you can know that the other person simply saw their message - like if your going to be late because of traffic. Try everytime you think- why didn’t they respond, to reprogram instantly with, “I’m not be ignored I.e. rejected- they just didn’t have time to respond. The more reprogramming from negative to positive the more you will see those negative thoughts will go away and rarely start from negative anymore

I think everyone experiences this to some degree. I find it helpful to remind myself of all the times that I might have not responded to a message as soon as I saw it, and what my reasons were. That way I can be more realistic about how I interpret it from others. Usually delays are just because people are busy.

Not every time someone does not respond is about 'you'. It could be that this person is busy, have other things on his/her mind. We are all captives of quick, on the moment communication but sometimes people need time to respond.

I get this a lot, I usually send another message if they don't reply within around 5 - 10 mins. If they read that one and don't reply I know they're ignoring me and then my mind isn't wandering through all the possible scenarios.

I feel this and the best way of coping in my opinion is ignoring the conversation until the person decides to reply to you. If you see them in real life you could always ask if they're mad, annoyed, ect.

I'd like to provide some perspective from someone who does a message but doesn't always reply soon! First of course I'd like to apologize for any anxiety I had caused but I think the thing about social media is that we have it so conveniently with us that we receive messages at all times of day, when we're doing anything and maybe just taking a peek at our phones. I often look at my phone and see the message but it's not at a time I am able to reply (ie at work, in a social situation etc)! I often wait till a time I am alone and able to take the time to reply to do so. So I think it's important to consider the possibility that not replying after having seen the message may not necessarily mean they are ignore you.