Vulnerability is scary and for many, it’s easier to go it alone than reach out to others. In fact, the ability to build a support team and use it, is a hallmark of resilience. Your “team” could be one person or it could be a slew. In my work, I’ve experienced men and women (it’s not just the men) who have rigid beliefs around what asking for help means. Often those who believe it is a sign of weakness learned early on that they couldn’t rely on others so it makes sense that they might turn inside vs outside to cope!
And yes, there can be male/female differences in social conditioning around “asking for help” that might need to be challenged a little.
If you tend not to ask for help, I encourage you to try. If you practice this new skill and get positive reinforcement from it, neuroscience has demonstrated these new experiences have the power to mute out old and unhelpful beliefs about what is possible.
If asking for help is still something you struggle to do and you feel it’s impacting your emotional health (and possibly relationships), I’ve assisted many people wanting to break the unhealthy belief patterns negatively impacting their lives.
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Skype sessions also available in some cases (CA residents).