Poll Do You Find It Difficult To Talk About How You Feel?

[milbert]

If so, what's the main reason why?

 

[Tinyflame]

Yikes- 'yes', but the answer as to 'why' is all-of-the-above-and-then-some.
Will have to think about it.

 

[Martin Taylor]

Because I was belittled for doing so as a kid.

 

[Lionheart]

I often find it difficult to articulate my feelings, but I am doing much better with it now than I used to.

 

[milbert]

What did you find helped you get better at articulating your feelings? I'm struggling with this at the moment.

 

[Lionheart]

I have found that writing down my thoughts and feelings helps, as does having a list of emotions. To articulate my feelings in real time is still kinda difficult for me to do, but I try to avoid vague descriptions of how I feel.

 

[freakofnurture]

I always feel naked after having talked about my feelings to people whom I can't really avoid afterwards. People knowing about me to me is a very dangerous, frightening kind of closeness.

 

[shell]

I don't know how I feel, perhaps that's my biggest problem. My stock standard answer in therapy has always been I'm fine, but I know I not. I just don't know where to begin to say how I'm feeling. Sometimes I've been thinking of suicide (planning) only the day before, but say I'm always saying I'm fine, even to the doctor, I'm sure he didn't believe me last time as he interrogated me for ages. Maybe when I start therapy again I will actually be able to say what I'm thinking and feeling. As for telling anyone else that's never going to happen.
I think sometimes I'm so worried I'll start crying if I even started to try and talk about it.

 

[SimplyComplex]

I think I know how I feel, usually. And I can find the words when I journal. However, saying the words outloud, especially in therapy is very difficult. I still feel like I need to protect my true feelings to be able to protect myself. Luckily my T now accepts the feelings "icky" "yucky" and "ewww".

 

[who am i kim]

If so, what's the main reason why?

My feelings are buried under the fog i live in. Some days there are no feelings just a nothingness. Hope that i did this right.

 

[Incendiu]

Yes... but of different reason...sometimes I just cant figure out what I really feel, sometimes I'm afraid of what other might think or how they will react and some times I just cant find the words to describe them in a way so other would understand. And If I talk about some feelings I have like sadness, that I'm hurt or like that I just get to afraid of starting to cry if I talk about that. I'm not used to cry yet...I don't use to cry and have had years when I did not cry at all...

 

[Tinyflame]

I am usually aware of how I feel, but not necessarily 'why' I feel as I do, at a given moment or on a given day.

I am afraid of repercussions for expressing how I feel, or there is no 'place' for it, or it's incidental to reality, or it won't change anything, or it will only make my own life worse and accomplish nothing, or it feels like complaining and the words or myself don't have the 'value' to be 'entitled' to do so.

Or it will bring other's down/ be burdensome, etc. Because of all that and not being used to that or used to it without repercussions I'm not likely to find words or desire to do so, either.

Also, I 'fake it' well, and other's seem to be most comfortable with that.