u/SlytherinSoul1998

I know a lot of people say their anxiety gets worse at night, but for me it’s almost the complete opposite.
During the day, my anxiety can be pretty high. There are people around, traffic, work, random interactions, things I need to do, and my brain seems to constantly find something new to worry about.
But once it starts getting dark, I feel noticeably calmer.

It’s like my brain suddenly goes:
“Alright, that’s enough worrying for today. Everyone go home.”

Everything feels quieter and less overwhelming. There are fewer people around, I don’t feel like I’m constantly expected to do something, and I can finally relax.
Sometimes I’ll be sitting at home at 10–11 PM thinking, “Why couldn’t I have felt this calm at 2 PM?”
It’s almost like my anxiety has office hours and refuses to work the night shift.

Anyone else get that feeling where the darker it gets outside, the calmer you become?

One thing I’ve found really confusing is that even though my social anxiety has improved a lot, I still occasionally seem to attract hostility from completely random strangers.

My posture is good now — I walk with my shoulders straight, I don’t constantly look down, and I’m much more comfortable being out in public. I also make an effort to mind my own business and avoid conflicts.

Honestly, I’m probably one of the most boring people you could encounter. I don’t pick fights, I don’t approach strangers, I don’t get involved in other people’s business, and I don’t do anything suspicious. I usually just go about my day.

And yet, every now and then, something strange happens.

For example, there’s a guy in my neighbourhood who seems to get along perfectly well with everyone else. I’ve never spoken to him, never had an argument with him, and I don’t even know his name. Yet whenever he sees me, he gives me these very hostile or threatening looks. Sometimes it feels like he’s deliberately trying to intimidate me.

I’ve noticed similar things at work. There are certain people who seem to stare at me or act strangely around me despite me having absolutely no interaction with them.

I’ve also had occasions where complete strangers have randomly approached me and started yelling at me when I hadn’t spoken to them or done anything to them. On a few occasions I’ve even felt like strangers were following me around shopping centres or shops.

The frustrating part is that I genuinely don’t know what I’m doing to supposedly invite this reaction, if anything. I used to have much worse social anxiety, so I wondered whether my body language was part of it. But now my posture is much better and I’m considerably more confident, and it still happens occasionally.

I’m also aware that I could be misinterpreting some situations — especially because I know that being hyper-aware of other people’s behaviour can be part of social anxiety/autism. I’m not assuming every person who looks at me dislikes me.

But there have definitely been situations where someone’s behaviour was overtly hostile.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? Especially people on the spectrum — do you sometimes feel like strangers react negatively to you for reasons you genuinely cannot figure out?

I don't know if this is an Asperger's thing or just bad luck, but it's something I've noticed throughout my life.

There's this guy in my neighbourhood. We've never spoken, never had any conflict, and I don't even know his name. Yet whenever he sees me, he gives me these really hostile, almost threatening looks. Sometimes he'll even cross the street and keep staring at me as he walks past. I honestly have no idea why. Could there be rumour about me in my neighbourhood that I’m a lonely guy in his late 20s with no gf ??? Even then, I’m very discreet and I barely even talk to anyone in my area.

I’ve even had a couple of occasions where a random person seemed to follow me around a shopping mall. I don’t know if they actually were or if it was just a coincidence, but it definitely made me uncomfortable.

A while back there was also a guy at my subway station who would constantly stare at me whenever he saw me. Again, zero interaction between us.

Even at work I notice it. When I go to the cafeteria, there are these two guys who always seem to stare at me, but they don't appear to do it to anyone else. It gets really frustrating because I end up wondering if I'm doing something wrong, even though I can't think of anything.

I don't slouch, I take care of my appearance, and as far as I know I'm just minding my own business.

Does anyone else experience this? Do you ever feel like certain people instantly dislike you for reasons you can't figure out, or am I just overthinking these situations? Also, wth is wrong with neurotypicals. Why can’t they just leaves someone alone if they hate him so much??

27 never had a girlfriend, I’m repulsive af (people are only nice to me once they get to know me, but even then they feel pity ) . I barely graduated university and even then I had no life , besides studying of course. Not to mention I had to put 10x the amount of effort than others just to succeed. I

I barely have any friends, I have difficulty making any, and I’m dumb af. Everyone around me thinks I’m slow because I always take time to retain information and I’m awkward af. I live alone, and I feel like doing basic chores taken excessive amount of energy. I can’t even drive my car without having a panic attack before I get behind the wheels.

I constantly come across others who are more successful than me, etc they earn more and have a family , and I’m that hermit who works and goes back to his empty apartment.

I’m curious if anyone else here has experienced something similar.

I’ve noticed a pattern in my life where I sometimes feel like women treat me differently, but the frustrating part is that I honestly have no idea what I could be doing wrong.

I don’t know if it’s my appearance, body language, facial expressions, or something else I’m unintentionally giving off.

For context, I try to be respectful and socially aware. I’m not someone who stares, invades personal space, or acts overly familiar. In fact, I’ve actually been told before that I avoid eye contact too much. I’m also hygienic and take care of myself. I don’t put huge amounts of effort into my appearance, but I would consider myself fairly normal-looking.

Despite that, I’ve noticed some situations that confuse me:

- When I’m out with another person, women will often approach and talk to that person but completely ignore me, even if I’m part of the conversation. I feel like women are hesitant to even ask me for directions.

- There is a woman in my apartment building who says hello to almost everyone except me. I don’t take it personally because she isn’t bothering me, and I’ve never had any conflict with her. I’m probably known as the "ghost neighbour" because I’m extremely quiet and keep to myself.

- Sometimes women in my building don’t greet me, which is completely fine — nobody is obligated to say hello. What I find strange is when they avoid greeting me instead they will repeatedly stare (sometimes even angry stares )at me, almost like they are trying to figure me out or they are repulsed. I’m not staring back or trying to get their attention, so I don’t understand what is happening. I’m not invading their space either. I’m literally meter and a half apart. Even my friend noticed this woman giving me long death looks once on the subway.

- I’ve experienced similar things at work and on public transport, where sometimes women will choose to sit away from me and then look at me repeatedly.

The confusing part is that I don’t feel like I’m doing anything inappropriate. I’m polite, quiet, and mostly just mind my own business. In public transport I just sit there with my noise cancellation minding my business.

I wonder if this could be related to autism and differences in body language. Maybe I’m unintentionally giving off signals that people interpret differently, or maybe I’m just overthinking situations.

Has anyone else with Asperger’s experienced something similar? Have you ever felt like people (especially women) react to you differently even though you’re trying your best to be respectful?

This is something I've been thinking about recently, and I'm curious whether anyone else here feels the same.

I imagine some people on this subreddit still live with their parents, but there are probably many who live alone and don't have much of a support network.

For example, I only have one close friend in my city, and he lives on the other side of town, so most of the time I'm by myself. Like a lot of people here, I often walk alone, including at night.

I try to be sensible. I keep good posture, stay aware of my surroundings, avoid obviously risky situations, and don't have my phone out all the time. But those things only help to a certain extent.

Sometimes I wonder whether being someone who is obviously alone makes you a more attractive target for muggers, burglars, scammers, or other people looking to take advantage of someone. Most people have families or groups of friends checking in on them regularly. If you don't, does that make you more vulnerable?

What worries me even more is the future. I'm 27 now, so this isn't an immediate concern, but I sometimes think about what life might be like if I'm elderly and still living alone. I wonder whether that would make me an easier target for scammers or criminals pretending to be relatives, carers, or officials to gain my trust.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but it's something that crosses my mind from time to time.

Does anyone else here ever think about this, or feel physically less safe because you don't have many people around you? If you live alone, are there any habits or precautions you've adopted that help you feel more secure?