It finally became widely acceptable to talk about our feelings in 2020. Everyone was suffering (future people, we were locked at home during the coronavirus pandemic), and the suffering was the only news, national news. Mental health issues had traditionally been a taboo topic, especially among men. Male suicide rates are extremely high. Sad tales of “you’d never have known” told after another person takes their own life, all too common.
There are big pushes to get the nation, all nations but in this case the United Kingdom, talking. Normalisation of mental health topics can only help us all to share the way we feel, and help & understand others.
From anecdotal experience, those I know that are best at sharing their own feelings and experiences have a simple strategy for segueing into these discussions: they engage in a little gossip. Talking first about the lives of others makes the subject of their own lives a short jump away, an easy and natural transition into the conversations we all ought to be having. Certainly it’s easier than the transition from a chat about football.
This isn’t a promotion of gossip as a good in its own right. Gossip can do harm.
Gossip can be positive too, though. It might the story of how well someone is doing, or it could be a completely manufactured story about a made up person.
It’s a hop and a jump to share your own worries or thoughts. If a little gossip helps you to open up, try it.