Do you feel uncomfortable with birthdays?

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I'm curious if this is just a quirk of mine or what, because I still don't understand what exactly about it annoys me so much. I can kinda see it, but it still annoys me more than other similar things. There's just something about birthdays that really rubs me the wrong way.

Does anyone else feel bothered when people say "happy birthday"? It feels to me like any response I give to that will be either rude or just fake. I'm a terrible liar, so "fake" could also easily come off as rude, which I guess makes plain "rude" the less worse option.

I also feel uncomfortable with other people's birthdays. Apart from the whole murkiness of being-but-not-being-but-still-being obligated to congratulate them for it (as if it's an achievement, especially the way it's phrased in my language) or give them something, and the whole awkwardness if/when you do it (because, yeah, sure, "happy birthday", but then... *crickets chirping* "weird weather today, right?"), I feel like gifts that you don't know for sure someone wants/will like/will use (in short: the vast majority of gifts) are fundamentally wasteful. I don't like to give them, I don't like to get them.

I think I've managed to convince my close relatives that I genuinely don't want my birthday to be celebrated, but they still seem torn between respecting my wish on one hand and meeting their perceived social obligation on the other. In the end they tend to prioritize the latter unless I'm particularly abrasive about it, which I don't want to be.

Yes due to two reasons. One being I'm very reserved and don't really care for a lot of attention. Two being I'm generally coy about my age because people my age (mid and late 20s) are expected to be this successful hard working career oriented married archetype, and I'm not that - not by a long shot.

I love birthdays, because I see them as a celebration of life.

Mid and late 20s people, lots of times, still live with their parents.

I never had “ambition.”

I just had my 60th birthday. I still like birthdays.

I do not mind birthdays. Don't mind attending and celebrating it.


I do not mind the idea of it. I'm mostly ok with surprises.

However, I prefer to not anyone know mine and bother me too much about it for the same reasons.
I can let anyone celebrate, have an excuse to gather and meet up or waste themselves.

But never drag me into it. Never put me up to some social obligation.
Because if it is 'my day', then let me do whatever I want with it.

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I don’t like the obligatory social interaction, tend to lie low on my own, fortunately not interacting with many people on a regular basis means not often having to deal with somebody else’s.

I too have the comparison to other people my age. Or rather, things most people my age have that I will probably never achieve in my life.

Birthdays including my own o often forget and am a repeat offender for never buying gifts for anyone.. usually because I forget and if I don't I never know what to buy people.

Any occasion where I'm obligated to buy a present for someone makes me uncomfortable. I like giving gifts, I just hate the pressure of being expected to give a gift.

I like my own birthday but I can totally relate to the awkwardness of receiving gifts and feeling that any reaction I have is 'acted' for the benefit of the giver.

I'm a birthday hater (holiday hater too). It doesn't matter if it's my own or someone else's, I can't stand them. It's some weird, big fuss over a person and I find it all uncomfortable, loud, unnecessary, and almost insulting. By insulting I mean, it's odd to me that people seem to need to create one day to focus on one person in such an extreme way when I think it seems so much nicer, more sincere, to be decent/giving/thoughtful towards each other on a daily basis. I know people can enjoy big, staged events...I, however, do not. They are close to my idea of hell.

Anyway, I hate my own birthday, and for years, asked people to kindly forget I have one. My family is mostly respectful of this now. I appreciate that.

I despise being the center of attention...so yeah...I hate my birthday. I'm fine with other peoples birthdays though.

I dread my birthday each year. Most of my early birthdays were far from happy due to bullying. It is a reminder of my dark past that I wish I could erase.

I don't like being the center of attention, and have had not good experiences on my birthdays with them being an excuse for some of my family members to get drunk.

I remember when everyone sang Happy Birthday to me in class it always made me deeply uncomfortable, and I couldn't afford to bring things to school (we were expected to bring something like candy or cupcakes to our class to share in elementary school), so to avoid kids and teachers getting angry at me for being "selfish" I just always stayed home on my birthday.

Overall I don't like birthdays and don't like acknowledging that I have one.

I never saw birthdays in the achievement way. My family is considerate and so my birthdays are quiet and relaxed, no singing or candles in sight but good presents and food (especially the cake). I do get annoyed when others' birthdays are shoved in my face, not that I'm trying to be rude/don't want them to celebrate. I just don't like the fuss and noise of traditional birthdays.

More due to 'external' anxiety, pre-cognitive anxiety and sensory sensitivities I can get in social situations - at some points leaving me in a state of 'stupor / catatonia' (as reference) - Yes I find parties bizarre, and emphasising with so many people and bass sensitivity and sound/syntheseshia etc light sensitivity in parties (as reference) overwhelming but fun - in particular when I had schizophrenia spectrum as a teenager - everything was just very overwhelming and I was in fact hallucinating at parties and reality was becoming abnormal and 'different' - it was just kind of overwhelming. i always felt like an Outsider.
I think, in a way, schizoids can be as low functioning as full on schizophrenia - especially if 'overt-covert' schizoidism - a schizoid who feels loneliness and love strongly but is not wired to function in the social world - and thus when I was in the social world - was like I was missing 'the key' to socialising and experiencing world very stronger so I hide away. Apart from that I like dancing and talking about interests to people .

Phycotic spectrum can experience world strongly in primary form - experience empathy and emotions 'externally' - where the world becomes 'dream-like' and 'different' , secondary development (schizophrenia spectrum) - is if it doesn't 'fade away' and secondary hallucinations cognitive even after the void , lethergic acid's and cannabis, - I know because that's why I am on medication now but I can't describe in words what's fully happened in my life - is complex.

Basically that's what I meant - I never had my own birthday's due to that - I never liked being 'centre of attention' and because of my autism - but always enjoyed others parties - because how overwhelming it was due to my autism and schizophrenia but often found myself hiding away due to sensory things.