well, I could understand if it was a group conversation OP was involved in and it was just playful teasing. there's no harm in that. the fact that it was behind OP's back though makes them shitty friends.

#10 Why would you tease someone about their anxiety? Would you tease someone about their schizophrenia or ptsd? Probably not. I have anxiety and people always downplay it like it's no big deal, it's just being shy or introverted. Well it actually goes deeper than that and is a serious thing people have to suffer through. Don't treat it like it's any less painful to have to deal with.

Agreed. And OP, I understand how hard it is to confront people, I have anxiety myself, so instead, slowly distance yourself from them. They don't deserve you but you shouldn't stress yourself out trying to get away from them.

I would tease a feminist that claims she/he has ptsd from a tweet.

#28 What's with the "the don't deserve you" They might simply not realize it might be hurtful. If you are the type to make fun of everything, you can end hurting someone unwillingly. If this is a repeated joke, then yes, they don't deserve the friendship, but only if so. But I agree in one thing. If your friends are not willing to wish you the best, nor help you get it, or at very least trying not to pull you down, go and fine new ones. Most people are really poison and they don't realise it. But you have to get rid of anxiety. it is possible and it will change your life. Go and consult whoever the hell you want, but you can't go through life only to open yourself in the late years.

yeah no doesn't matter which sort of disorder you have not funny to poke fun unless the other person consents I certainly wouldn't want my friends to poke fun at my bpd

#43 It all depends of how close you are with a person and how you pay atention to their reactions. Any disorder someone have will be made fun of by some guy at some moment. This is when you get your fisrt about if you may speak about it or not. I personally think that everyone has a thing you can't joke about. As a friend, you have know what that thing is, and not touch it. But of course, everything else is "open joke" (Mouahahahah!)

Honestly, I get confused by why people think it's ok to tease about anxiety. A big part of it for many people is the fear of being mocked/disliked/judged by people. Why does it seem like a good idea to make fun of that?

While the friends were undoubtedly awful, if OP finds confrontations too difficult to handle it then there may be some truth in their hurtful statements. You have to be able to confront your s.o. from time to time about things, it's unavoidable. If it is typical for OP to get too anxious to confront someone about their hurtful behaviours, they may not be able to maintain a relationship or worse: they may end up in an abusive one with no way out. I'm not trying to be mean here, I myself struggle with confronting people sometimes, not so much friends and family but particularly in professional environments and I have to stand up to a coworker or boss, so I understand it can be nerve-wracking. But still I realise it's not healthy to let people get away with treating you unfairly. You deserve better. Good luck OP, and think about assertiveness training.

plot twist : OP's too anxious to get new friends

That's not funny I'm 16 and haven't had a friend in about 9 years thanks to my anxiety disorder do you have any idea how awful my life is because of it? You have no idea what it's like to be alone almost your entire childhood and even bullied just for being quiet.