POINT NUMBER 7 Unless youve been given explicit permission, when it comes to someone elses anxiety, you should probably listen instead of talk. In other words, shut up. You know how its okay when you say something nasty about a member of your family, but if someone else does it, youre going to come down on them like a ton of bricks? This is like that. I can talk about how exhausting or infuriating I find my anxiety, but if you do that, its probably going to hurt my feelings; I can say that I wish I didnt have anxiety, but if you say that, Im probably going to think youre an asshole. Also — and man, do I wish this went without saying — its never okay to talk to about someone elses mental health issues with a third party, unless youve been given explicit permission to do so, or if your relationship with that third party is one involving legally enforceable confidentiality (your therapist, your lawyer, et cetera). Just because someone has told you something about themselves does not mean theyre comfortable with everyone else knowing it. I, obviously, am comfortable with everyone on earth knowing that Im a nervous wreck, because I would not be writing articles on the internet about it I wasnt. But mental health issues, anxiety included, are still heavily stigmatized in any number of communities, and there are a lot of people who arent at all okay with people finding out about their struggles. There are even people for whom thats an active anxiety trigger. So, you know. Dont do the thing.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 21:38:50 +0000
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