Coping strategies would be extremely helpful.

I'm currently in a situation where me and my boyfriend sleep in the living room of a 1 bedroom apartment, which is occupied by his parents. We can't afford to move out at the moment so I just have to deal with it. My parents live a country away while I go to school abroad.

I feel like I can't ever just be myself. I always have to be on guard for the possibilities of being watched, which gets very mentally straining. The living room is out in the open for the whole world to see and I just want a place where I can hide away and relax. You cannot just simply ignore the people who walk by, you always have to adjust yourself according to them because there is societal expectations. You can't just not care because you don't want to create an even more hostile environment for yourself.

You can't ever shut yourself away from these expectations and your mental state is always just 'on' because of this. As a result, your fortitude slowly slips away and you lose yourself. You become lazy and unproductive because you've become too stressed by always being 'on'. You're 'on' at work, at school, when you go out and the only place where you can shut off is at home and you can't even do that. You can't ever escape from the constant interruptions and the possibilities of them. With no ability to relax, you have no wellbeing.

My only escape is finding peace at coffee shops. Here, I don't have to respond to people if I don't want to. You care less about the societal expectations of strangers then your significant other's parents. But it's still tiring when you go out every single day for hours on end until it's the parents bedtime so you can feel a little less on guard. I still have to wear pants when I just want to be in my underwear at home. I still have to be on guard for who is possibly watching my actions. I still have to look somewhat presentable. Oh God someone help me I'm living my worst, introverted nightmare.