We tend to judge people when we first meet them. Even though first impression can have a lasting impact, when we make a judgment we stick to it if it’s someone we’ve known for a while.
When we find a person is impolite, we write them off as “not raised right,” “weird,” or just plain “rude.”
Many people who suffer from anxiety have side effects that may come out as rude and they have coping mechanisms. But all these are caused by their anxiety disorders.
Here are some of these ‘rude’ and ‘impolite’ gestures that do with anxiety but are misinterpreted completely. This will help you to be less judgy and more understanding.
01 Even though we happily agree to meet, go out, make plans and have fun, we will find an excuse not to go, or 100 reasons why we shouldn’t at the very last minute. And then we feel both relieved and terrible at the same time when we finally cancel.
02 We understand getting snappy with people, having an abrupt or harsh tone, or blowing up over something that seems small makes us seem rude, and we really don’t mean to do it. We feel always on edge that, sometimes, the slightest thing can push us over, only because of our anxiety.
03 We interrupt people during conversations as we know we won’t remember what we wanted to say two seconds later. Even though it irritates other people we can’t help it, and we always feel bad afterward.
04 When we are in a conversation, we sometimes don’t make eye contact with people or we look down at our hands, phone, or anything other than the person talking. It’s not that we’re rude, it’s happening because we can’t always handle looking someone in the eye when we’re anxious.
05 We know it’s not polite to be seen on our phones a lot in group settings. Even we dislike when other people do this. We do it to keep our mind busy and keep it from escalating into an attack when we’re having a bad anxiety day.
06 As we want to “focus on us” we tend to distance ourselves from people. We don’t want to waste someone’s time and energy if we’re not in our ideal state, as it just won’t be fun for them to be around us.
07 We know that it’s rude to avoid someone we know out in public and it’s never because we don’t want to see them or hear how they’re doing. The reason behind this is the insecurity on our own part, the fear of saying something stupid, or being weird, or them not wanting to talk to us.
08 When we’re anxious, we can get very sarcastic and defensive. Sometimes we need to be left alone and we do that to push people to create some space.