If you feel like you have to act normal around other people, masking, anxiety, ADHD, autism, and self-monitoring may be leaving you exhausted.

If compliments make you uncomfortable, it may not be because you are ungrateful. Self-criticism, low self-worth, shame, and anxiety can make praise feel hard to believe.

Sometimes you are not asking for advice because you do not know what to do. You are asking because you want someone to tell you that wanting what you want does not make you wrong.