@ad.1080p: Being on the receiving end of projected insecurity is so draining, & hearing shallow comments from people that randomly put you on a pedestal (due to their assumptions abt you based on your looks/intelligence/WHATEVER) before ever taking the time to get to know you is not a compliment…it is dehumanizing & objectifying. pedestals are for statues, not for human beings!! please, if you are premed or applying to med school & you want to make good friends in life, you need to learn how to find internal self-worth and not operate from a center of insecurity and scarcity, especially before you go to med/grad school, where you will meet many incredibly driven, intelligent, and cool people; they do not have to be your competition in a battle that you are making up inside your own head!!!!! & this is coming from someone who grew up constantly projecting insecurity on my friendships bc I didn’t have a great model of how to have food self-esteem or confidence. once I started healing and improving my relationship w myself, I made a decision to grow UP and grow OUT of this behavior. #premedadvice #medstudent #medschoolfriends #projection

berii444 :

Yep and they’ve asked you 0 questions but assume they know you

Lydia :

Thank youuu. Especially as someone with a bright bubbly personality but has been through a lot of trauma.

faithfullybri :

It kinda seems like they comparing , and that’s a personal issue , I just block them because it’s draining

Turtles :

People love to assume that I’ve had no struggles because of my current lifestyle. They don’t even know the half of it.

fiona tran ✎ᝰ. :

where can i find more people with your mindset

Jesse James :

I built this self assurance by all the things I’ve been through and im always having to correct people on it

starburster :

I’m a conventionally attractive girlie and so many people assume I’m super privileged, meanwhile my mom lives in section 8 housing and me being in grad school is huge as a FGLI student 😭

Kuebler et al. 2026a :

Being friends with an extremely beautiful famous influencer, romance author, clinician, and researcher from the beginning of grad school really helped me not play the comparison game

amna 🪩 :

i have many flaws but i am SO glad i don’t project my insecurities onto other people. it’s such a strange concept to me. we can have insecurities without weaponizing them!!

madelineinmedicine :

SO RIGHT. because every bit of self-assuredness that i have is a direct product of the HELL that I had to go through. like THATS what built it

⬧︎⋆🍒⋆⬧︎ :

This should be in her feed not mine 😒

Angela :

Also if you don’t talk about your achievements people don’t think you have them! I have a baby face but work my ass off and have accomplished a lot and faced a lot of challenges too and i’m never taken seriously

oluchiiswhimsy :

Had an ex bff that thought my life was perfect because I was likable, popular and pretty. She tried to destroy me. Little did she know my home life was a mess

BombaciousBri :

Honey it’s not just people or friends. It’s mostly family and it’s sad but you gotta rise above it and be the change

zoebrianne510 :

I feel this on every level - a 1L who has never felt more aware that the way I present myself doesn’t reflect my trauma/childhood at all

manuela.uppalapati :

Yes. To all of this!!!

Destiny Noel | UGC :

So many people try to humble me but I ignore them because I was the “ugly sister” my whole life until I took better care of myself as an adult. I deserve a happy ending too.

Han :

Thank you. I don’t assume they didn’t go thru something or couldn’t understand my experiences but I too often assume someone I think is cool won’t extend understanding towards me and that doesn’t help either

Hhhh :

I feel like this as a friend that always has to be the therapist listener friend as around people who are constantly in our crisis they don’t realize that you were also dealing with so many of these things, but you’re just handling it in a different way I also don’t like to bond with people through just constantly talking about our problems. It just is something that’s so frustrating and something that I’ve been like really looking at when I make friends.

TIKITAKA :

CleoCat98 :

That’s actually a good point

kuno⁵ 🐼 :

yess bro people don’t even know about half my stuff cause i never talk about it? also people always diminish ur struggles if ur parents have money if ur young 😭

Malaria281 :

I try to be bubbly and happy because life is too short to be sad, and so many people think I’m naive or haven’t had any heartache. Yet, they’re always so shocked to just hear the tip of my iceberg.

wepa! :

all of us project. is just that some of us would rather project our highest good 😌

zara :

I met some of the most genuine girls in grad school who are my besties now and you’re so right