Weekly Prompt #33: How open do you feel about talking about your anxiety with others?
Hello all and welcome back to another discussion,
A couple of weeks ago we discussed: How are you feeling right now? Thank you to all who participated and shared your thoughts with us. I appreciate you all. I hope all who may read it find it relatable too. If anyone hasn't shared yet, please share them here and I look forward to reading and discussing them with you.
This week's prompt: How open do you feel about talking about your anxiety with others?
The topic of discussing anxiety with others carries a weight of vulnerability and courage. It's not easy to open up about our inner struggles, especially when it comes to mental health issues like anxiety. Yet, the act of sharing our experiences and emotions with others can be a powerful step towards healing and connection. Let's get started and share your thoughts with us.
Also, it is time for periodic feedback on these weekly prompts.
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
Honestly I thought I was okay with it but now I’m not so sure. Although irrational, I think I get anxious even talking about my anxieties probably because I fear rejection and it’s happened before, especially when communicating with family members. I struggle with rejection sensitivity and I’ve learned it can be a byproduct of neurodivergence like in ADHD and Autism.
@fearlessLand8537 It sounds like you have some concerns about opening up about your anxiety to others. How has your experience been like when you have tried to talk about your anxiety in the past?
- Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
In reply to your other post, the way I am feeling now is that I have a limited support network eg family and only small amount of friends, however, I am very greatful and blessed for professionals who support me in ways that are beyond me and wish I had more support from family.
I would be keen to learn more about anxiety when it calms to breathing exercises, how we can stay calm when an anxiety trigger comes on and so on.
@bouncyCandy4246 Thank you for sharing and your suggestion for more discussions on other anxiety topics candy. that is helpful. It sounds like you feel grateful for the support you receive from professionals, but also have a sense of longing for more support from your family. Can you share more about what it feels like to have a limited support network?
I'm at about a seven out of 10 when it comes to my comfort level in sharing with someone about anxiety but I can't find anyone I'm really comfortable with doing that.
I'm pretty new where I live and haven't found any friends here yet that I can call my people. So far it's just been people who attack me. I have more to heal first.
Kinda sucks because I thought I was okay. Being bad is something I didn't expect to happen. Now I have a whole backlog of things to forgive and it's not my strong suit.
@communicativePond1728 That sounds difficult. You aare experiencing difficult feelings around anxiety and feeling like you don't have people to open up to. Finding the right people to talk to can definitely take time. What has contributed to you feeling like you have a backlog of things to forgive?
- Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to general mental health would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
I only share things here on 7cups. I have no one I can share with who won't criticize me. So I don't talk.
@WorkingitThrough2 I understand how it feels when you're carrying so much alone. I am glad ou find 7Cups safe to share. It takes courage to open up about how you're feeling, and it's completely okay to only share with those you feel comfortable with.
Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to general mental health would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
To be perfectly honest, I have not been able to keep up with the post so I can not rate nor say which ones have helped. I been to caught up in my home issues.😒
@ASilentObserver,
no one in my family really knows how to communicate about anxiety and they just say to walk it off you'll be fine, so over time I've stopped telling people things and bottled everything up until I snapped and I became a horrible person but im trying to change and I'm pushing myself to change.
@forcefulShip4663 I hear you have had difficult experiences with anxiety and finding support. Bottling up emotions can lead to increased stress and negative impacts on mental health. Opening up about anxiety can be challenging, especially when those close to us may not fully understand. Please know you have all of us here with you to listen to and support you, Ship. Keep sharing what you can.
Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to general mental health would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
on a scale of 1 to 10 these convorsations have been helping me really well. I'm not sure what I would be into for learning more about. Thanks
@ASilentObserver While talking about anxiety can be very helpful to a lot of people, it is not my case. I could talk about it if I wanted to but I don't cause it enables my OCD. Not talking about it means I have to hide it what leads to Ultimately getting it together and doing what I need to do, facing it head on. I do talk to a trusted person like my bf or family when it gets too much and is about an objectively harder challenge. But I try my best not to feed things that are small like phone calls or surreal what ifs. When it comes to these, I try to only discuss them in therapy or if it is a part of a productive, solution oriented discussion. Would just like to reiterate, there is nothing wrong with talking about anxiety, it helps a lot of people, so don't take my words as a disregard of talking about your anxiety struggles. It's just something that doesn't work well for me due to my specific problems 🌻🌻🌻
@sadcat13 Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It makes sense that talking about anxiety may not be helpful for everyone. What types of coping mechanisms have you found to be most effective for dealing with your OCD?
@ASilentObserver exposures and not engaging with the thoughts
It really depends on the kind of people i am talking to. I am willimg to talk to it about people who i know will listen and understand withoit judging me and also to people who ate willing to learn about it. But if peiple aimply dont want to talk about it or if they have preconceptions about it which hinders them from actually understanding it, then i dont prefer to talk about it at all.
@Poohkipsie I hear you and thank you for sharing with us, Pooh. Opening up about our struggles can be challenging when we are unsure of how others may react. What helps you decide whether someone is someone you can open up to?
Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
uh, honestly, it depends on the group i’m sharing with. for example, my mom, stepdad, one out of two of my sisters and one out of two of my brothers know that i struggle with anxiety, along with few close friends i talk to about it.
sometimes it’s a little tricky talking to people about mental illnesses, especially depending on how they’re brought up, their mentality pertaining certain things and how open minded they are. i always pick and choose the crowd i decide to share certain things with, especially if it shows my vulnerability. not everyone understands or choose to understand, and sometimes they feel as if, because they can’t see your illness or pain, it’s not real.
@chyni I get that Chyni. It makes sense that you would want to be selective about who you share this information with. It can be difficult to open up to people who may not understand or accept what you're going through. Please know you have all of us here with you to support you.
Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
@ASilentObserver
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful) so far, i find these discussions very helpful, as they help me to get my thoughts out my head and in writing. i really enjoy these discussions.
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further? uh, honestly i can’t think of anything at the moment, i’ll fa sure let you know next discussion if anything though.
ps: keep up the good work, obs 💕👏🏽
@ASilentObserver I struggle greatly with talking about my anxiety with anyone other than my partner. I also very rarely leave my house, so I isolate alot. But I can't bring myself to tell people about how, I wake up every morning with a huge ball of anxiety in my core, about how it feels near impossible just to leave my bed, or how when I HAVE to leave the house, I have constant panic attacks... I don't want people to see me like this or know me like this. Idk what happened to me to make me this broken... I've been through alot of trauma sure, but I've never been this bad. It feels like ever since I quit using drugs, I can't function like a normal person. And I have no idea how to overcome that
@SerenelyClean I can understand how difficult it can be to share such personal struggles, especially when we care about how others perceive us. It takes courage to open up about our anxiety, and I am glad you exploring these feelings here. Thank you for sharing here with us and know you are not alone in this.
Also, please do share feedback on these weekly prompts. It would be helpful to me
- On a scale of 1-10, how helpful did you find these discussions on anxiety so far? (10 being most helpful)
- What specific topics related to anxiety would you be interested in learning more about or discussing further?
I would rate it a 10. Also, topics I would like to see more info about, or discussions are a little bit different but still related to anxiety.. for example with PTSD, or even generalized anxiety disorder, the fact for some of us we struggle daily with constantly being in the fight or flight response, so our bodies are experiencing hightenwd levels of anxiety from constant cortisol release, some more info about this, and/or ways/methods on how to start overcoming that would be great. For me personally I was told by my endocrinologist that I'm currently experiencing severe adrenal dysfunction related to that specifically because of the constant fight /flight response I'm in due to CPTSD... What she, nor any counselor have ever taught me was how to combat that, how to being myself out of fight or flight, or even why my body reacts that way to begin with in the absence of danger
@SerenelyClean Thank you Serene, appreciate your feedback and suggestions. I will definitely work on bringing discussion on those topics. And that sounds like you're going through a challenging time with CPTSD and adrenal dysfunction. Feeling stuck in a constant fight or flight response can be overwhelming. Have you found any ways to calm your body and mind during these moments?
I have only just realized about a month ago that I’ve been living with an anxiety disorder for probably 2 years or more. It led to depression and relationship problems that now led to my current situation of going through a divorce.
I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I see now my actions stemming from anxiety and depression were misinterpreted and were really hurting my husband. But unfortunately it’s too late to salvage the relationship.
So I’m just learning to talk to myself about anxiety and have only talked to my husband, my therapist, and my mom about it so far. It feels hard to accept it myself so I don’t even know where to begin talking to others about it.
@Iris4625 Thank you for opening up with us Iris. Living with anxiety can be difficult, especially when it goes unacknowledged. i understand how opening up about it can be challenging, but also healing. What has been preventing you from discussing it with others?