I sometimes wonder why is it that we get so affected by the judgements and observations of other people.
The mechanism here seems to be : when somebody observes & perceives me - they form a certain impression of me. And in that perception, I either meet their expectations or I don't.

What happens if I don't meet their expectations?
If I fail to meet their expectations, there is this fear that will they stop liking me or loving me.
Maybe they will want to stop associating with with me?
Because I don't meet that expectations, they might feel that I am not good enough for them.
And why would someone engage with me if I am not enough for them?
Wouldn't they abandon me?
And will I then end up being lonely and vulnerable?
So effectively, for my caveman instincts, not being liked by others could end up challenging my sense of safety.. cos the caveman mentality feels that there is strength in numbers..

So judgement, and the possibility of being judged as not enough feel like threats. 
It feels very painful.. something we might imagine as being 'hell'.
And since the judgement comes from other people, we start thinking of them as the source of the pain  - making them seem like the creators of this hell, so to say.

But what really feels like hell is this fear.
And the fear is a feeling happening within me.

So are other people really hell?

Others will judge us. It is unavoidable. Judgement and ascribing meaning are core to human nature. 
But how we give meaning to this judgement of others is in our hands. 

And hence others are maybe not really hell. 

Hell is this feeling of not being enough for ourselves..
Others just happen to activate this feeling.. something which already exists within ourselves.

What if we were to really observe this feeling? 
How might our lives change if we were able to truly observe & accept this feeling?