Why do I have such a hard time trusting that people actually like me?
Identity & Self-Worth
Difficulty trusting that people like you often stems from early experiences of conditional love or rejection; healing involves building self-worth.
Having trouble believing that people genuinely like you often comes from early experiences where love felt conditional or where you experienced rejection or criticism. Your brain learned to be suspicious of positive attention because it might be taken away. This can make you constantly look for evidence that people are just being polite or will eventually leave. Building identity/building-self-worth" class="internal-link">self-worth and learning to trust others' positive regard takes time and often benefits from Psychotherapy. Start by noticing when you dismiss compliments or assume negative intentions.