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Let's face it, everyone has problems, and everyone has moments where they just don't know how to deal with them. This can create stress, tension, low mood, anxiety and depression. We are living in such a fast-paced world with so many demands and pressures put on us. Whether it is at work, at home, our families, and a lot of the time, social media.
There are going to be huge and sometimes painful experiences in our lives that completely turn our worlds upside down, such as the loss of a loved one, losing our job, a relationship break-up or financial worries.
Whatever our worry is, talking is one of the best ways to help with the way we feel. It may feel difficult to open up about our emotions and some people would probably find this embarrassing or feel as though it is a sign of weakness.
IT IS NOT WEAK TO SHARE YOUR PROBLEMS!
We all have them, so we all get it. In fact, the person you choose to share them with would more than likely feel privileged and grateful that you trust them. It would also make them feel as though they have permission to come to you, if ever they needed to.
Who can we talk to?
Family and friends
Your GP
Helplines, such as:
FIVE GREAT BENEFITS OF TALKING
It can help you to feel you're not so alone
Keeping problems and worries to ourselves can feel incredibly lonely and isolating. Over time the worries can build and build, creating feelings of anxiety, tension and low mood. When you begin to talk to someone, that load is shared, and you can begin to feel like you're not so alone anymore. When someone provides you with empathy and understanding, it can feel like they are not just your worries, and someone else is alongside you.
It can release pent up feelings and tension
Problems can result in us feeling many emotions, such as worry, upset, sadness, anger, frustration and fear. These emotions will continue to whir around in our minds and create uncomfortable feelings in our bodies, like nausea, tightness, tension and headaches. They are with us constantly and become bigger over time. Talking is huge in helping us to release these emotions and reduce the power they have over our minds and bodies. Even just naming an emotion we are feeling, can change the way the brain deals with it.
Can help you to find solutions
When we talk about our problems instead of just thinking about them, we can begin to view them differently. It helps us to process them and come up with solutions we hadn't thought about before. We begin to see them more clearly. A friend may offer advice and helpful opinions that you hadn't considered before. Or a counsellor could help you to find your own answers, empowering you to move forward.
It can stop worries getting bigger
Worries can be like bacteria. If they are just left, they grow, spread and take over. They will stay inside and consume you, creating more problems such as anxiety, depression and ill health. The moment you let that worry out by talking to someone, instead of growing, it can begin to shrink. It is now shared; it can be rationalised and you have support from someone who cares.
It can help to mend broken relationships
When we attempt to deal with our problems and worries alone, it can make us low, tense, angry and depressed. This can have a detrimental effect on those around us such as family, friends and colleagues. We don't often realise how we are behaving, and we can unintentionally take out our frustrations on those we love and care about. By sharing our problems with someone, this will help us in all the ways mentioned above, reducing the strain on people close to us. If we choose these people to confide in, they can also begin to understand why we have been acting this way and instead of continuing any conflict, they can begin to help you through it.
"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light." Hellen Keller
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