Does anyone else worry they are really a robot?

[Mutabilis]

We passed a parent from my DD's school yesterday and exchanged polite hello's. After they passed by, as usual I checked with my DH if I seemed normal, said the right things, made human facial expressions in a normal way etc. He made the usual joke about me really being a robot. I am very socially inept, people fill me with terror, but I do work and do normal things. I've spent many years studying human behaviour and psychology but it hasn't helped. I always feeling I'm an outsider to this world. Does anyone else feel like this? Are there other robots out there? Is it just me? I do tend to fail those 'are you a robot' things online.

Sounds like social anxiety.

I've never seen an 'are you a robot?' quiz before x

I hurt too much on a daily basis to be a robot

Just sounds like you have a social anxiety problem

In the sense of how we are wired some people do make the connection - something about stored memory, dna etc. All of these things are "coded" into us.

Do I think we are all robots? Hope not. I like to think that we gather all the info we know from those stored memories, continue learning and developing naturally and independently, whilst living alongside everyone else. And robot or not we all need someone, just we don't always have someone to "fix" us and look out for us like the machines.

No, I don’t feel like this.

Do you think there is a chance you may be on the spectrum?

Great, so your DH feeds your social anxiety by calling you a robot and putting a spotlight on it

Fwiw, most social interactions as you've described people never give a second thought about once they're over. Unless you suddenly started doing the can can or burst into song, no one, absolutely no one, gives are shit whether you ticked every single societal norm box.

Have you ever looked into autism? It presents very differently in women (I’m assuming you’re female) but what you’re describing sounds similar to my autistic sister.
Might be worth looking into.

Oh a few people have replied, thank you, I didn't expect to get any responses. Looks like I am the only robot though. I don't think I have autism, I did do one of those online tests once but I was a few points below the threshold. I also am not sure I have social anxiety, I've gone through the diagnostic criteria and I'm ok with strangers, my anxiety increases the more I know someone (except very close family). I just read all social things wrong.

You are definitely not a robot.
When I was younger in primary school.
I used to think that everyone apart from myself wasn't real.
That I was in some kind of experiment, maybe an observational experiment.
The feeling hasn't really gone away.
But I dont think k you need to ponder too much about how others perceive you. People are generally very self absorbed. No one really cares or give things a second thought as much as you think they might do.

Can see why anxiety increases when you are around those you know if their language towards you is questioning your own mind.

And even if you randomly burst into song, sometimes people surprise you and join in.

No I'm far to emotional. I do sometimes wish I could control my emotions better.

Before I thought I could be a robot I did used to think I could be an alien. In fact I hoped I was an alien, left here to observe life on Earth, and looked forward to being collected by my real people and taken home. That's interesting about emotions, I hadn't really thought about to it's being unemotional. At work everyone says I'm very calm, even when I'm panicking I seem to appear calm to other people, it's strange. Apart from anxiety I'm not sure that I do feel strong emotions. There must be some robots in the world living among us?

I have a diagnosis of social anxiety and in general I’m fine with strangers. It’s much worse with people I know, unless I’ve known them for absolute aeons.

Just saying.

Unfortunately technology hasn't advanced enough to enable artificial intelligence to be disguised as a human and successfully live among us without being detected.

I feel like this and I suspect I have ASD.

I get this, not the robot thing but the feeling you don't know the rules of social interaction.

I'm pretty good at it these days (I pass as 'a character' rather than :a dickhead') but it's fucking exhausting. DW is the complete opposite, totally empathetic, so she sort of prods me along. I find it gets easier as I get older.

Honestly look into ASD as it does sound similar to other women on here,who have been diagnosed as an adult.
You are definitely not a robot !

I’m not sure he’s helping you very much. Or even if he’s right, you might be fine but he keeps saying it.

I think I’m more robotic than you. I don’t know any parents from DDs school, and I actively don’t look at people in the street so I wouldn’t have seen them.

Next time he says, scan him up and down saying 'knob head detected' in a robotic voice.

I feel like everyone else is a robot sometimes, and I am living in a Truman Show scenario.

Did you feel like this as a child and teenager? Or is it more recent?

Sounds like me.

I got diagnosed with autism (Asperger's) a few years ago - in my 40s.

I have always been like this, it's not recent, but I'm finding it's worse as I get older because there's more situations where I have to be normal like work, school run etc, and I don't know anyone any more since moving area. I did consider ASD years ago but I didn't really fit the criteria as I can do the 'imagining' question set, and I don't want to fight my way through a long diagnostic process with no prospect of treatment. I'll still be a robot at the end of it all anyway. Same with social anxiety, I've always been like this and I'm not sure anything would work to treat it (I have tried) it seems to be part of my personality. Perhaps I will look into it all again. Thanks for all your suggestions.

I think for adults the point of a diagnosis is not treatment so much as greater understanding/insight.

Plus if you have a label you can find other people with the same label (especially online), which helps you feel more connected/understood and you can learn tips/strategies from them.