Paranoia at work.
There are many cases I could cite where this is a real problem. People think that “this look” to him or her, and “that comment” meant disapproval of this or that… and so it goes on.
The best example is the case of Chris, where I performed some Gestalt work with him, asking him relevant questions to get him to experience work from each of the perspectives of the senior individuals and peers whom he felt were out to get him. After that, I asked him how he felt now. He said he realised that they have no time and gain no benefit from thinking any of this stuff about him as they are too busy trying to get through their own problems, and even if they were, there’s nothing he can do about it, and he might as well just enjoy his work. Sums it up really. There was clearly more work to be done, but I wanted to share this insight with you.