Being abused can seriously affect your ability to distinguish between “not obviously pleased” and “obviously displeased” because abusers go from Neutral to Hostile for absolutely no discernible reason, and eventually you start worrying that everyone is going to be like that and you start feeling this urge to make absolutely sure that the people you actually care about aren’t mad or upset, because to you, “there’s no evidence that they’re not angry” is the same as “there’s evidence that they are angry”
I was in an emotionally abusive friendship when I was in college, and I realized about a year ago that I was afraid to upset or even disagree with my friends (who I’ve known since high school and who I love and trust like they’re my siblings). It hit me that it was because of that friendship. I was so afraid that I was going to lose my friends or make them angry at me that I was afraid to even have a different opinion.
It’s amazing how engrained abuse can become in your brain.