Whenever I’m in public, I feel hyper aware of people around me.
Even if someone just looks in my direction, my brain instantly goes “they’re judging you” or “they can hear everything you’re saying.”
I know logically it’s probably not true… but it still makes me shut down and overthink everything.
It’s exhausting.
Does anyone else deal with this?
Every time I try to use something privately, it either breaks, gets blocked, or becomes inconvenient.
Meanwhile, the easiest options are always the ones that collect the most data.
It feels like you’re being nudged into giving up privacy just to function normally online.
Is this just how things are now, or am I overthinking it?
Every new system is marketed as “for safety” — age verification, biometric logins, ID checks.
But all of them require giving up more personal data.
And once that data exists somewhere, it can be stored, leaked, or reused.
So where do we draw the line?
Are we actually becoming safer… or just more trackable?
I expected the hard part to be the classes, exams, and assignments.
But honestly, most of my energy goes into keeping track of deadlines, different platforms, emails, group work, and random requirements from each class.
By the time I actually sit down to study, I already feel drained.
Does anyone else feel like the system itself is more exhausting than the learning?
Every time a service asks for more data, it’s framed as “making things easier” or “improving security.”
And most of us just accept it without thinking twice.
But at what point do we realize we’ve traded away too much?
Do people actually care about privacy anymore, or only after something goes wrong?
I can think clearly when I’m alone.
But in conversations, my mind just goes blank. Like there’s nothing there.
Then I start overthinking, get anxious, and it just gets worse.
I hate how I can’t just be normal in simple interactions.
Does this happen to anyone else?