Is it normal to think people are judging or conspiring against me?
I have had thoughts like this:
1. My mother will tell me to take out the trash and I wonder why she told me that. Wouldn't I already know that it needed to be done? So I think she's secretly saying I'm stupid or lazy. (Even though she's never said anything like that.) I'm always analyzing what people say for secret messages.
2. If people try to help me, I think they're implying I'm stupid. I hate having to need help.
3. I can't go to some churches because I think the statues are whispering about my sins.
4. I was once walking around my neighborhood and I noticed I had a stain on my shirt and I was afraid the neighbors were going to come out and start pointing and laughing at me.
5. I hate filling out forms because I feel like they're deliberately made to be confusing so they can trick me somehow. I used to be afraid I'd make a mistake on a job application and they'd think I was lying and send the police to arrest me. I'm thirty-one and I only managed to get my first job last year. I had to force myself to go to a job agency. (They were very helpful.)
This has gotten to the point I'm so anxious I have to wear a retainer at night because I grind my teeth.