*The following article contains discussion of suicide/self-harm.
Some people have the tendency to hold things in so as not to risk ruffling feathers or facing huge embarrassment.
The problem with that, however, is that these secrets can fester and become unbearable to live with.
At some point, something's gotta give, and it can be worth the release.
Curious to hear examples of those kinds of scenarios, Redditor FazzyPhonix asked:
"What’s something you need to get off your chest but haven’t yet?"
When it comes to finding love, it's complicated.
Feeling Love
"I’ve never experienced genuine, romantic love. I have had opportunities for it. But I never really felt like I could develop it."
– Frisky_Potato42nite
Concept Of Dating
"Aroace here. I can't believe how long I spent waiting for romantic feelings. Dating sounds like a good idea, but I have never once wanted to date anyone in particular. Frankly, it's infuriating."
– grayTorre
Unrequited Love
"I’m madly in love with my ex and can’t move on. He’s across the country and I can’t even look at anyone else because of how I feel. It’s been almost 2 years, I don’t want to feel this way anymore but I can’t make it go away."
"There, that helped a little."
– lavenderdearest
Some people are deep in despair but don't show it.
Feeling Stuck
"I used to self harm by cutting and making myself throw up, I've dealt with several eating disorders and am pretty much still in one currently, I feel stuck in a life that doesn't seem to be going anywhere and I'm kind of just surviving at the moment."
– BarefootBestseller
Choosing Life
"I was in that boat and thinking about ending it. Everything was just boring. In the end I’m glad I didn’t; I’ve had a great couple years. I got engaged and found an amazing house with my fiancée. Now I’m trying to make everyone’s life around me a little better everyday. Whenever I see a post like this I always think about how happy I am I stuck around. Even though you’re just treading water now, you’ll catch a current and go somewhere soon. Just keep hanging on for now, I know things will get better for you and you’ll be looking back happily one day."
– mbur77
Some people wish to avoid placing burden on others by keeping personal matters a secret.
Cancer Risk
"I have to go get a biopsy done because I might have cancer. From what I read, I shouldn’t be overly worried but if it did come back positive there is a little more then a 50% chance I won’t be here in 5 years. Haven’t really told anybody, because it could very well be nothing but f'k it is keeping me up at night."
"Edit: thanks for the love everybody, should be fine. As people have mentioned, could come back negative, could be cancerous but benign. The idea is I just got to know, because I feel like my life is on pause until I find out. ❤️ back at everybody."
– trudenter
Friendly Warning
"Don’t put it off. I put off going to the dr when starting having some downstairs problems. Turned out it was stage 2 cervical cancer. If only I’d have gone to the dr sooner? Maybe the tumour wouldn’t have been so big, I might not have needed so much chemo or radio and I can’t stop thinking about how I should have done it sooner as it’s had so much of an impact on my life."
– shiningstar121618
Some feel a loss so deep, they think it's best to just go through it alone.
Old Best Friend
"I miss my best friend but I do think it's better that we're apart. I try not to think about it."
– twirlingpink
Mourning The Death Of A Friendship
"Best friend from school beat up his baby mama infront of me and I had to intervene. Turned out it had been going on secretly for a long time. Never would have expected it had i not seen it myself. Ended up having to be a witness in court anf give evidence to help her and the kid get the restraining order. I did the right thing, her and the little girl and happy and he's stopped drinking and has visitation rights now. Me and him are done though, well never be friends again. I mourn him as if he were dead."
– Cpt_kaleidoscope
Look Back
"Broke up with my best friend of 9 years almost 8 years ago now. I still miss him at times but eventually got to the point where I saw how toxic that relationship became and know im way better off having ended it. Took a couple years to get there."
– Kinoko98
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.
To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/