Have you ever run into people like these? I have a few times in my life run into people who were just all convinced that either I myself or "others" (whoever they were convinced was) supposedly had a serious crush on them. The three or so times this happened to me, I was all "Huh?" And when it happened, I couldn't figure out if the other person was merely paranoid or if they were so convinced of their own desirability that they thought everyone wanted them. Both times, my reaction was all... :leaving: When a woman did that with me and I actually found myself in the position of having to explain to her as politely as I could that I was gay, she was basically going, "Oh yeah sure, that's a new defense if I ever heard one! I know how you men are!" I was simply all "Well, I'm sorry you were unintentionally offended" and stayed the heck away! I also once knew a friend in my teenage years who knew this middle-aged cranky lady who was... well, to be frank, nuts, so much so that all the neighbors stayed clear of her because she was just floating off in her own "little world". She was really mean, too, so my friend was one of the many who just couldn't stand even driving past her house, let alone wanting to deal with her, simply because she was so mean. So imagine his repulsion when one day he learned that she was telling people that he had the HOTS for her! She had been trying to convince neighbors, "Don't you let that little creep around on my property, I know all too well how sick he is what with what was going through his mind!" And the minute my friend was told this by someone else (and I must admit, his reaction was funny), he did a whopping double take and went, "Uh, EXCUSE ME???" I mean, his face was just green like he was about to get sick. I couldn't blame him. When I was recently visiting with a friend of mine over the phone, she told me she knew of a lady who nobody wanted to date or go out with because she was so peculiar, and that "she was so desperate to believe otherwise that she had convinced herself that they all wanted her, and told everyone else that accordingly. Of course everyone knew she wasn't being for real. A very lonely lady." So it does make me wonder: is there an official psychiatric term for this sort of condition? Is it due to bad self image, overinflated ego, or what? I'm really curious to hear more about this... well, let's call it "affliction", as that's sort of what it appears to be. But I'm no professional, after all.
It sounds like these people are so lonely and have no one around that they convince themselves that a person who is nice to them MUST be madly in love with them. Otherwise, why would they be nice to them? Peace and love
