Why can't I be around a group of people without feeling like everyone's looking at me?

Good question. I don't know. Social anxiety is a big problem for many of us. Just think that you are not the centre of the universe, you are not the only thing they are thinking about. They are people, just like you and as you have so many thoughts and feelings they have too. They don't have time and energy to always look and stare you. They are not your enemies. Your anxiety is your worst enemy, not people. This sensation comes because you thing you are wrong, ridiculous, silly and pathetic. But you are not this things. You are smart, kind and brave.

I think that many people feel the same way in a group setting--that others are looking and judging--and some people are better at masking their insecurities. Everyone has the potential to be great, and we are often our own worst critics. It is often a case of mind over matter to feel more self-confident when participating in a group setting. Other times, it is a matter of choosing the best possible group of people to be around, those who are supportive and less interested in being judgmental!

We all have felt this from time to time. Sometimes social situations can make us feel awkward or as if all eyes are on us. I know that what I call mine is social anxiety. There are a lot of really helpful tools on 7 cups and online that deal with social anxiety, that I think will be very helpful for you. Remember you have a support group with 7 cups and please visit the anxiety support group as well. Don't hesitate to reach out to us!

It can be hard to deal with these emotions. It could be that you suffer from some type of "social" issue which makes it hard for you to be around others. You can find the help you need by speaking with a counselor or therapist who can help.

I often feel self conscious as well, especially because I take up a lot of space. Whether everyone is actually looking or not, if you can reach down inside and love yourself, it's a lot easier to not care what anyone thinks!

You can't be around a group of people because you feel that they're looking at you or talking, laughing at you instead of paying attention to themselves. You can work on this by imagining what your group of friends would do.

Sometimes, it depends on the people you hang out with. It is most likely that you would not notice much about the people around when you are enjoying others' companies. I believe that being in the company of the right people, even when you are surrounded by lots of strangers, you will soon see that everything becomes a blur.

This can be due to fears that you have, feeling extreme self-awareness might be due to you being scared to being embarrassed infront of everyone or worried they will all somehow realize that you are an "imposter" or "not good enough". Dealing with this can be challenging but doable, ask yourself what you are scared of. Envision the worst case scenarios for what could happen when you are with people and the one that makes you heart beat the hardest is what you need to work on.

This is simple! It's because you have an abundance of self awareness. Self awareness can be healthy or unhealthy depending on how it makes you feel. I remember the first time I joined a big public gym - I thought everyone was watching my workout, and I felt very self-conscious of everything I was doing. However, after I kept working out at the same gym over the course of a few weeks, I realized nobody was really paying attention to me specifically. People were there to do their workouts, and even if they were looking at me, the realization of having eyes on me just sort of faded. The more I did it, the easier it was. Now, I'm very comfortable in all social situations because I've been around a large group of people I don't know for years.

This might have to do with a low self-esteem, social anxiety or maybe even a combination of the two. It's important to not self-diagnose though, if it gets really uncomfortable for you and you feel like you start avoiding situations because of it, it might be important to look for professional help. You can try to get more confident, the more you love yourself the less other's opionions will bother you, so you won't care as much if people would be looking at you. I can reassure you that that thought is most likely just overthinking, they have no reason to just look at you. Try to think how realistic these thoughts might be and try to calm yourself that way.