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Writer's Block: Confidences
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as a general rule, strangers. i imagine part of this is due to the profession i'm in, where listening to other people's problems is common. the difficulty in confiding with family and friends is that they aren't unbiased parties - they have a vested interest in who you are, and what you think of them. their perceptions of who you are, and what they'd like you think (of themselves and of others) will influence how they help you with problems. this isn't always a negative thing, but it's something that i think about a lot and my personal tendency is to avoid talking to people who i see on a regular basis about major problems.
of course, strangers aren't perfectly objective confidants either - even if they do have your well-being at heart (and while i believe that's true of most health professionals, 'strangers' could mean anyone) no person is a completely honest confessor, and most people have a tendency avoid mentioning details that might be perceived as negative, so your confidant may not be able to see all sides of the issue.
as a general rule, strangers. i imagine part of this is due to the profession i'm in, where listening to other people's problems is common. the difficulty in confiding with family and friends is that they aren't unbiased parties - they have a vested interest in who you are, and what you think of them. their perceptions of who you are, and what they'd like you think (of themselves and of others) will influence how they help you with problems. this isn't always a negative thing, but it's something that i think about a lot and my personal tendency is to avoid talking to people who i see on a regular basis about major problems.
of course, strangers aren't perfectly objective confidants either - even if they do have your well-being at heart (and while i believe that's true of most health professionals, 'strangers' could mean anyone) no person is a completely honest confessor, and most people have a tendency avoid mentioning details that might be perceived as negative, so your confidant may not be able to see all sides of the issue.