Am I normal?

[Feellikeamonster]

I am so sensitive/easily offended/unreasonable.

I’m mid 30’s and I get upset so easily, I seem to have very little resilience sometimes, but a lot for others. Two DC, family life is hard as both are on the pathway which isn’t always easy to accept, and can be tricky to handle on a daily basis, equally we have it a lot easier than some families. Loving DH but we argue a lot.

Good, stable job, good work/life balance. However I’ve been in the same role for 10 years now and have tried to progress with no luck. Every time I get a knock back, I get very upset and frustrated and feel like quitting (I wouldn’t as can’t afford it!). I am very prone to this type of knee jerk reaction. I worry that friends don’t like me a lot, equally I find it hard to keep my mouth shut if I disagree with them on something. Same with DH.

I am easily annoyed and offended by other people. I’ve fallen out with a lot of people along the course of my life due to how I react to even slight conflict. I am getting better with age but that’s a recent thing, only since about my mid 30’s I would say.

I don’t think this is normal? I have always been a very anxious person, I catastrophise and obsess/hyperfocus. I’m on sertraline for my moods as I couldn’t carry on the way I was after my second DC. I don’t know how to improve myself and become more resilient.

Sorry but what does 'on the pathway' mean? Is it a terminal diagnosis?
I think you may need to clarify this as it'll make a huge difference to the replies you get.

Not knowing much about you, I can only offer very loose ideas... could you suffer from ADHD (rejection sensitive dysphoria is a common part of ADHD which makes people more sensitive), or Borderline Personality Disorder (the frequent falling out rings an alarm for this)?

Or, perhaps you experienced CEN (childhood emotional neglect) and struggle to regulate your emotions -- to be fair, I think most of us did, as past generations weren't great at helping kids learn how to regulate their emotions.

I would look into these three and see if you think any fit your experience, then you can do what you need to do to support yourself.

Assuming you mean pathway to autism/adhd diagnosis, then presumably you've considered you may also be ND yourself. As pp says RSD is very common within our community.

I must say you sound similar to me! Always on high alert ready to give up at the first hurdle (jobs etc I struggle with negativity and being told I've done something wrong etc)

Also constantly worried about friends, if they still like me, if I've been replaced by someone else.. it's constant!

Wow @onestepps . Have you always been like this? I’ve always been…difficult.

Sorry yes I mean the pathway to autism, ADHD etc diagnosis. I should’ve clarified that!

Never thought to look into BPD, and never heard of CEN but I think you’ve hit the nail on the head @Endlesslaundry123 with the latter, emotions were pretty stifled/shamed in my house growing up and my parents were loving, not abusive at all, I think it’s just the way it was.

Yep I've been like it for as long as I can remember, im also stupidly submissive and will bend over backwards for a friend / someone I love if it meant I can keep them in my life or keep the peace. I don't do well with confrontation and fallouts cause my mind to go into absolute overdrive. Autism does run in my family although I've never been diagnosed.