hi, I have autism and I find it really hard to understand the limits of friendships and how they work, as such i am quite clueless and naive in relationships and have been taken advantage of for laughs because of this when i was younger. I am very sensitive to rejection and find it catastrophic mentally, it makes me feel like they never truly cared about me in the first place and that i was tricked. I rationally know that sometimes people cancel because something unexpected happened, however after a situation (a long time ago) where i was lied to by someone repeatedly so that they could purposefully avoid spending time with me i am hypersensitive to rejection. How can I break this thought spiral and believe that my friends actually like me (i believe that they probably do (they're very nice), but my brain tells me otherwise)? i enjoy spending time with them but I can't get close due to this irrational fear, it makes me feel lonely even though i have friends 😞
any advice is appreciated, thx
