What misconceptions do people have about you?

[JapaneseBirdPainting]

I have been told in several different scenarios (work; home; school) that I am very 'laid back'.

I am actually a total stress head with diagnosed anxiety and depression. So it is bizarre to me that i apparently have this back persona.

I am pleased that I come across this way.... but it seems wierd.

Because of my job, level of education and tastes / interests, many people tend to assume that I come from a very middle class background. Some even assume I went to private schools.

Nothing could be further from the truth. I grew up on a council estate, went to a bog-standard comp and was the first person in my family to set foot in a university, never mind graduate.

That I am unapproachable abs stuck up. Though only adults ever think this. Children climb all over me and don't ever think I'm unapproachable! I'm a social worker in cp.

People assume that I must be desperate to move from my literally notorious area. In reality we could afford to move but love it here and would be spending our fun budget on living further from the centre.

That I’m vegetarian (or occasionally vegan). No idea why.
That I can’t be religious because I’m “clever” or “rational” and “clever people aren’t nowadays” - this one actually makes me sad

That I'm posh ((I live up North and grew up down South, so I just have a fairly neutral southern accent, but that's 'posh' up here, apparently).
That I'm rich (I'm an author with more than a dozen books traditionally published. This one always makes me laugh)
That I'm independent (even my own brother thinks this. I'm not, and I'd love the chance to be needy and dependant, but never met anyone I could depend on).
At work - that I'm a bit of a 'wild child'. (Oh, if they could only see me spending every evening in my fluffy socks and PJs...)

People assume I am a bit thick (I think because I am quiet 😕). I have a STEM degree.

That I'm confident

That I'm standoffish (nope, just socially anxious)

People assume I'm timid. I am- until I need to not be.
People also assume I'm not very clever. I think because the job I choose to do requires minimal qualifications.( It just fits in nicely around my DC, and my partner works full-time and is the main earner)

That I'm aloof. That I'm posh, I grew up in a working class family/in care.

I have two. The first is that I'm completely collected and together, sailing through a charmed life, never really dealing with hardship. That I can't possibly understand mental illness, anxiety, depression etc. In reality I've created this false persona; I've been in regular counselling for the past 15 years and before that I was a complete mess. I have diagnoses of PTSD and general anxiety disorder as well as crippling phobias. I've created a life which works around my limitations and work hard every day to avoid triggers. Friends think I often go out of contact because I'm living life to the full but in reality I'm at home unable to fact the world. I didn't intend to keep my issues a secret nor to have this persona but I'm in too deep now that I just can't find a way to open up to even my closest friends about who I really am.

The second is one I have posted about before (possibly under a different username, I lose track). My family believe I am a failure in a dead-end job. I actually hold a very senior position, am well known and respected in my industry and get a decent salary. They have somehow rewritten history and believe that I struggled at uni and fucked up my final year (I didn't) and as a consequence couldn't find a job so ended up settling for a low-level position and have never managed to rise beyond that. The reality is that I was set up in a prestigious graduate scheme which got cancelled due the 2001 recession so I found myself unemployed for a few months after graduating and eventually took an entry-level admin role. I learned loads there and worked my way up in this and other companies, also gaining a masters along the way but still I'm the family failure and my parents never tire of telling people that my degree was a waste of time. They think my masters was an attempt to "repeat my degree and hopefully do better but it was all too little too late". It's been 18 years since I graduated and they are still harping on about my university days, not giving any consideration to the intervening period. Whenever we get together with extended family, I am greeted with head tilts and "poor dinosaur - things will work out for you someday", or I get told that I'm lucky to have married a man that keeps me in a comfortable lifestyle (anyone giving a few minutes thought to DH's profession should realise that it would in no way single-handedly support our mortgage, holidays etc) and there is a long-running joke about giving careers advice to the younger generation of our family which basically amounts to "don't be like dinosaur" and I get compared to cousins who are doing very well but are in junior positions to me and told that I could have been like them if I had just tried harder and maybe someone could help me get a foot in the door with their employer, which I graciously decline every time.

YY @Springfern I was going to say the same thing. I'm bi and people always assume I'm straight. They also assume that I'm stupid or slow but that's due to an injury I had, outwardly I may seem slow but previous to that I was very academic and still am. People also assume that I'm relaxed and confident when neither are true.

So many.

That I’m super confident (I’m not)

That I’m very well to-do (definitely not)

That I’ve got my shit together (nope)

That I’m a vegetarian (this one seriously prevails and I’ve no idea why. I think because I eat a lot of vegetables?!)

Organised. I prepare in advance but no idea where library cards are.
Posh. I have that sort of voice but definitely a London accent.
Clever. I like words.
Serene was once used as I stayed outwardly calm on very stressful work days.
Happy.