We all have battle scars in our life and it's hard to open up about it with other people. What if they judge me? What if they think I'm crazy? Well, the truth is other people want to open up with you too but they're afraid of getting judged or made fun of as well. It's basically like talking to a mirror.
It's so hard to talk to people and it's especially hard getting them to eventually open up to you about everything. It won't happen overnight, there's a certain level of trust that person needs to have in you to get them to open up. If you get frustrated and try to force it and not figure out when to back out of the conversation then you're never going to get that other person to open up to you.
We're all afraid of how others will react so we never end up going deep into our feelings with others. That's why people end up sulking and crying alone because they know that they won't be judged by other people. There are billions of people on this planet, and mostly all of these people have had a tough time in their life when it comes to issues with their mental health. By talking about it with someone, a certain level of trust develops. We also struggle to open up because we're afraid of admitting our fears or struggles with mental health to others. I would much rather hold my thoughts and feelings in a little bottle to myself but if you don't share times when you're at your lowest of lows, it's going to eat you up inside.
Credit: Mindwise
It can be scary to open up about mental health, particularly if you've been struggling with it for a long time. But doing so will allow the people in your life who love and care about you to be supportive and help. It will also give you the liberation of no longer living in fear of someone finding out about your struggle. Relationships thrive when you open up with each other. This goes with any sort of relationship. Like a significant other, a friend, or a family member. When you begin to open up, others will open up too but you have to decide whether or not you should even say anything in the first place. Open up to the wrong person and things will get awkward (especially if you aren't even close with that person).
You should open up to someone once you feel comfortable with them and they earn enough of your trust. Research shows that it's highly suggested to open up to someone about your mental health because you won't feel alone and you'll have a special person in your life that you can trust with anything.
How To Get People To Open Up
Secretly, we all want to share our strange thoughts and ideas with other people but we don't. Instead, we talk about topics like sports, the weather, or last night's episode of a show that you don't care about just so we can try to relate with others about something.
The key is to show no filter when talking, share something out of the norm so people will know that you don't have a single care about what others think.
Don't try and force people to open up. 95% of people are not going to be opening up to you right away just because of the fact that your mutual friends. Think of it as a locked chest. What's in the chest you ask? Their real emotions. It's up to you to guide the conversation into the key of unlocking that chest. By unlocking the chest that's when they begin to open up to you.
People love when you pay attention and make the effort to listen to what they have to say, it shows that you respect them. Ask the right questions and be honest, try to come up with different assumption questions to prove that you listen and if you come up with an assumption, it'll cause them to react. If it's a wrong assumption they won't get offended and will often end up just correcting you. When that happens, take that information and branch it out to a different topic. If you're really paying attention and make the correct assumption that person will almost always start opening up to you right away.
Congratulations, you opened the chest.
Takeaway
If someone talks to you about their mental health before you that's a good sign for a long-term friendship. The important thing to do is to listen to what they're saying, take them seriously, and let them know that they're not alone. You could be the first person that they finally open up to so don't make them regret it.
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About the Creator
Sean Peck
Online entrepreneur with a passion on business, social media marketing, music, and media
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