Do you ever feel self conscious?

[Geltza]

I didn't want to lump this in with the thread about liking your body as it's more general than that!

My question is this. Do you ever feel self-concious or even just anxious in public because of the way you look? If so, how do you personally stop feeling self-concious?

Whenever I leave the house, if I catch a reflection of myself in a shop window or something I feel very self-concious, I immediately start having a minor panic attack and need to go find somewhere to hide or get myself home straight away.

Please note, this isn't a thread of me asking for advice, I'm just simply asking how you personally stop yourself from feeling self-concious etc. Thank you. :)

 

[Khoshi]

I don't really care about how I look. If I'm comfortable, then I'm happy. I don't stop feeling self-conscious because I never do. Even if my hair was singed, I'd maybe cover it up a bit so nobody worries, and go out and do my thing...that is, if I do go out. d:

 

[Plumpyfoof]

I'm a super self conscious person. Usually when someone mentions something about my appearance (good or bad) I'll become really self conscious. I guess I just pretend it doesn't affect me until I forget about it and it goes away.

 

[Alexander Nicholi]

On and off, and rather polarically. At one point I will not give a ♥♥♥♥ and two hours later I'll be kicking myself for forgetting to wash my hair when I showered or not astringing my face… eh. :P

 

[maccrash]

nah. if I see my reflection somewhere and I don't look very good there's nothing I can do about it so I don't really worry; or if I look good I just think 'well damn' and continue along my way

 

[Yukari]

I really don't care about my appearance. I don't like how I look all that much, but I'm frequently complimented on my appearance, so I really don't care that much about it. I've learned to accept who I am, including my appearance.

 

[Manitee]

I never really feel self conscious. Although I normally go and fix my hair whenever I can but that's just because I like looking good. I don't wear make up or anything. I don't feel the need to. I like a fresh healthy clean look. I could probably do with plucking my eyebrows but I like them how they are. Drawing them on seems so silly.

 

[Sonata]

I never don't feel self conscious. I suck in my stomach and stand as straight as I can when I'm in public so I at least look a little bit better. But I never don't feel bad about how I look...I really need to diet and get like 50 plastic surgery operations so I can at least look presentable.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

Everyone does a bit imo! I often get self conscious about myself even though I am generally fine with the way I am. Tbh though, it's not so much because I care about what others think but about what I think of myself.

 

[Nick]

All the time.

If I'm going out to just get a drink or something, I don't usually put any effort into my appearance, so whenever I look at myself in any mirrors and see my reflection I feel like I look absolutely disgusting and I want to get home as quickly as possible. It's all falls on my hair. If I feel like my hair looks good, then it compliments my face. And when I feel my hair looks good, I feel extremely good about myself.

I don't think I'm an ugly person, but I wish I was one of those people who could wake up in the morning and look fantastic no matter how their hair looks and not have to really put any effort into their appearance but often do anyway. I guess ultimately I just don't like the way my face looks when my hair is down, and I don't like the way my hair looks if it's not the way I want it to look at any given moment.

 

[Trev]

I only get self conscious if my shirt isn't big enough to cover my torso and part of my waist. I don't want people seeing the bottom of my stomach or the top of my pants. The only other thing is if my hair looks okay, which it usually doesn't because my bangs won't stop ♥♥♥♥ing falling down and angling on my forehead weird like I s2g ugaugasiuhguadhg

 

[Dr. Silver]

The only thing that outweighs my self consciousness is my loathing of the average person I meet on the street, so it's usually not a big problem.

But if I just so happen to like someone I encounter on the street, I'll immediately feel worthless.

 

[Poki]

Smh, you guys, I don't even brush my hair.

 

[Shining Raichu]

I used to, I used to be bigger and had a face full of acne and that really worried me, but it's all gone now and I'm fabulous.

 

[Soph3]

I know exactly how you feel...it's the same with me if I look in the mirror before I leave the house; I get all anxious and worried about what people will think of me.

The way I try to combat this, is to attempt to rationalise my thinking and tell myself things like "do people really look at me? no, they are more concerned with how they look, and are getting on with their day...why would they care?". :) Sometimes works a little to really take a step back and think about it.

 

[Pepperton]

I'm self-conscious, unfortunately. I have pretty bushy eyebrows, and my chest is a bit more hairy than most American guys my age, because I'm of Mediterranean descent, so I don't like pool parties or swimming with friends in general. Also, I'm below the average height and my hair is extremely thick and always looks wacky. All these things keep me from being confident about my looks, even though I'm pretty fit. :/

 

[Sean]

Yeah, I am. Especially if I go to clubs/socialise at night outs.

But on the street etc, I wouldn't be self conscious as I ensure that I'm dressed nice. You'll rarely see me dressed badly out of the house. In the house I'll look like a tramp though

 

[Lotus the Cat]

I am extremely self conscious of myself because of my skin. I have been struggling with acne for 15 years (and counting!). I have been on two courses of Roaccutane, which while it has generally minimised it has not cured it. This means I pretty much out of options except the use of topical creams and other things that don't really work for me anyway.

I am constantly looking at myself in reflections and mirrors and critiquing my appearance. The only times I don't wear make-up now is when I'm just staying at home all day or if I doing site works (although that also depends - sometimes I still wear make-up on site).

It's annoying because I can't actively do anything about it. I have always had a good figure that I haven't been able to show off because I had acne on my back, which is now littered with scars.

When people look at me I can't help but think they're looking at my acne. Because it's thought of as a repulsive skin condition, it is completely demoralising. Now having it is just embarrassing in a professional setting. People often think I'm 5 years younger than I really am, so I also worry about not being taken seriously.

 

[Geltza]

Thank you for everyone's replies so far. I don't want to seem annoying but to the people who just answered the question "are you self concious?" Would you also be able to answer the other part too? Like what do you do to stop yourself feeling that way? (If you DO do anything of course!)

I'm just really interested in the way people deal with things and I'd love to hear everyone's answers! :D

 

[Lotus the Cat]

I'm just really interested in the way people deal with things and I'd love to hear everyone's answers! :D

I control what I can. I know how to dress well for my figure - I constantly get compliments on my clothing at work. I also maintain a constant healthy weight (it deviates only 1 kg either way around my standard weight). I wear make-up to even out the tone of my skin and I ensure I have neat hair (as much as feasible). I generally avoid wearing clothing that exposes my back due to the scarring.