Do you feel like everyone hates you? Do you believe you’re constantly being judged and criticized behind your back? Mental health conditions like anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder (MDD) can trigger these thoughts. Feeling like everyone hates you in college can be a challenging and isolating experience. You’re not alone in thinking this way, though. In one 2023 study, nearly 1 in 5 college students reported experiencing low self-esteem. Low self-esteem often leads to negative self-talk and beliefs that others dislike you. In addition to low self-esteem, there may be additional reasons behind your negative feelings. Understanding some of the reasons why you might feel like everyone hates you can be an important step toward eliminating discouraging self-talk.

5 reasons why you might feel like everyone hates you

• Past trauma — Traumatic past experiences like bullying, social rejection and traumatic relationships may affect how you think you’re perceived. You may subconsciously carry fears connected to past trauma into new situations. If your parents were constantly critical of you while you grew up, for example, you may expect authority figures in college to be the same way. If your negative self-perceptions are tied to past trauma, working through your trauma can be key to improvement. Mentally differentiating your present self from past experiences may be helpful. You can remind yourself that past trauma doesn’t define your present or future. Past criticism doesn’t mean that the people you spend time with now have any ill will toward you. A professional mental health treatment provider can help you process your trauma.
• Self-comparison — Comparing yourself to others can lead to feelings of inadequacy. When you compare yourself to the most popular people around you, you may feel disliked in comparison. One potentially harmful source of comparison is social media. When scrolling through social media, you might compare your own life to the curated highlights of other people’s lives. When you do this, it can be easy to feel like you don’t measure up. Limiting social media time and avoiding comparison can be key to self-acceptance.
• Lack of communication — When you’re feeling insecure, you might pull away from friends. This distance can feel like confirmation that your friends don’t like you, even if you initiated the withdrawal. If you’re feeling distant from close friends and family, it might help to reach out. Communicating honestly with those around you can clear up misconceptions. When you let others know how you’re feeling, they may surprise you with understanding and reassurance. Mental health treatment can help you learn how to open up. A licensed clinical therapist can work with you to practice your communication skills and improve your confidence.
• Anxiety — Anxiety disorders can cause you to experience a lot of worries. If you have anxiety, you may constantly worry about how things could go wrong. Anxiety can come in many forms. Social anxiety disorder is one specific anxiety disorder characterized by fear and stress connected to social situations. People with social anxiety tend to fear social interactions and worry about social rejection. If you often feel that people are judging you or worry that people will dislike you, the cause could be social anxiety. Social anxiety can be treated through a comprehensive mental health treatment program.
• Depression — Major depressive disorder is a mood disorder. This means it affects the way you feel. If you have depression, you may experience persistent low moods. You may struggle with finding joy and staying motivated. One common symptom of depression is low self-esteem. People with depression are often highly self-critical. This can influence how you imagine others to perceive you. You may believe that others share your criticisms of yourself, which can cause you to think that the people around you hate you. With the right treatment program, you can work to reduce your symptoms, improve your mood and boost your self-esteem.

Get tailored mental health support with Lightfully U

At Lightfully U, we’re committed to providing accessible and exceptional mental health treatment for college students aged 18-25. You can get individualized treatment specifically for college students who need mental health support. The comprehensive framework of everything we do is our Precision Care Model (PCM). PCM uses the most effective aspects of evidence-based modalities like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) as well as compassion-based and somatic therapies. With PCM, we can help target the drivers behind your mental health symptoms and help you work toward improvement.

Change is possible. When you want to learn more about our treatment options, contact us. We’ll take the next steps together, toward the fullest, brightest version of you.