I (31F) recognize that from a young age I’ve taken on a role to take care of others due to circumstances (friends getting heart broken and harming themselves, taking care of siblings) that now I have a hard time opening up. It’s hard for me to open up and be vulnerable when I want help or when I have needs I want to express. I’ve been in situations where I was told I come off independent, cold or have commitment issues. A friend of mine told me it was the first time she’s seen me cry when I got stressed out about possibly hurting someone’s feeling, and I was friends with this person for 10 years.
My brain does such a good job of suppressing negative emotions or needs that sometimes I’m not aware that I even suppressed them. I know there’s a fear of being rejected if I do express my feelings and that’s what’s stopping me. But I want to learn how to overcome that fear cause I just freeze every time.
Are there others who’ve come from not being vulnerable or open to letting people they care about in? Or learning to express what they’re feeling? How did you overcome that initial block? What’s something you did that helped start the path to opening up?
TLDR: How to overcome fear of vulnerability?