(no subject)
As long as I keep talking and responding, however irrationally, I am not a serious danger to myself, and not likely to be a serious danger to anyone else. When I stop responding, it may mean that I am a danger - or it may mean that at that moment, words saying "I care about you" aren't enough. Passive-aggressive, perhaps. But if I pull away after saying worrying things, and you really do care about me, make an effort. (Even if you read my away message and go "oh, I don't have to worry.")
It is never a bad thing to say you care about me. It is never, ever a bad thing to respond positively when I say something like that to you. ("I know" is better than nothing, but not as good as mirroring my words and the emotion behind them back at me.)
Get me out of myself. Redirect my attention to something that will affect me personally and deeply. Make me cry in sympathy with someone else's pain - it releases a lot of the emotion in an acceptable, non-harmful way, and keeps me from sinking deeper into my own self-destructive cycle. I will be more receptive to your attempts to help if you are unafraid to let me see you vulnerable. (And that is why I distrust professionals.)
Just because I understand what I'm doing doesn't mean I can fix it, or even admit that it needs to be fixed. It's hard enough sometimes to find the words to say what the tiny little bit of myself knows intellectually. It's harder yet to even attempt to act on it, no matter how loudly anyone yells that I should.
It is never a bad thing to say you care about me. It is never, ever a bad thing to respond positively when I say something like that to you. ("I know" is better than nothing, but not as good as mirroring my words and the emotion behind them back at me.)
Get me out of myself. Redirect my attention to something that will affect me personally and deeply. Make me cry in sympathy with someone else's pain - it releases a lot of the emotion in an acceptable, non-harmful way, and keeps me from sinking deeper into my own self-destructive cycle. I will be more receptive to your attempts to help if you are unafraid to let me see you vulnerable. (And that is why I distrust professionals.)
Just because I understand what I'm doing doesn't mean I can fix it, or even admit that it needs to be fixed. It's hard enough sometimes to find the words to say what the tiny little bit of myself knows intellectually. It's harder yet to even attempt to act on it, no matter how loudly anyone yells that I should.