Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi.
I recently posted a photo of myself on facebook, enjoying a few days walking. I wasn't smiling in the photo and somebody commented telling me to smile. It really annoyed me to the point where it was all I could think about for most of the rest of the day (and clearly still thinking about it 2 days later)Afterwards, I remembered many other times when somebody has told me to smile and how often that lead to the end of my enjoyment of whatever it was I should be smiling at.
So, I'm trying to work out if this is an autism thing, childhood trauma, somehow related to demand avoidance, a reaction to criticism that I'm not doing enjoyment correctly... Has anybody any thoughts on this or could point me towards possible causes and solutions?
Thanks
Sometimes the people around me don’t feel that my facial expressions reflect my emotions, but that’s just who I am!!! Sometimes I smile when I’m happy, sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I feel comfortable in photographs or life in general and just act myself with whatever facial expression feels natural to me, and to be told that I’m “wrong” or need to be different is upsetting and invalidating!