Maybe it's an overstatement but I personally feel like I'm in Panopticon when working in open offices. I do not experience the same feeling in co-working spaces and coffee shops though. It just feels more productive to work with strangers in the same room who don't care about what you're working on but are aware that you need to get stuff done. On the other end of the spectrum, work-from-home setups just feels very solitary and distractions are just more prevalent.

It isn't just you. I couldn't stand having my monitors facing other people when I had to work in an open space, even though I only ever had work on it.

I feel something similar, like I need to make sure my screen always ‘looks’ like work regardless of if its actually work, so it becomes performative

In my case, sometimes I like to move, lie on my bed a few minutes, when I am thinking. Can't do in open office.

I also don't have half my focus spent on my surrouding (who's saying what, who's moving, who's looking at me for attention...).

I also don't have project managers or commercials chatting around me. I am getting stressed if someone pass by closely behind me.