How Can I Ask For Help?

Asking for help can be difficult, especially if you are the self-sufficient type. Knowing who to ask for help also can be a challenge. Many times, it depends on your situation. If you think you have a medical problem, then the answer is pretty clear cut that you can look to a doctor for answers. But if you are looking for help because you’ve been feeling depressed or anxious, the question becomes more difficult.

When it comes to making yourself vulnerable to someone by asking for their help or support, it is often a question of who you trust, or whose opinion you respect. If it’s low self-esteem help you are seeking, it may be best to seek out a trustworthy counselor, close friend, or family member. Figuring out who you can seek out for help will then help you develop a plan on how to ask for that help.

Asking For Help is Hard

Many people have trouble asking for help. They often are used to being able to do everything for themselves and see it as a chink in their armor if they have to ask for help. However, the opposite is true. Asking for help doesn’t prove you are weak, it makes you stronger, in gathering the courage to admit that you need some support. Without it, you might fail completely, and by deciding to ask for help you are proving to yourself that you know what will work best for you.

Asking for help can be hard because sometimes you go to the place where others are not compassionate about your request, or that they say no. Then you become disheartened that no one you ask for help will say yes, which strengthens your resolve to try to do it yourself. But stop and think for a minute.

If You Ever Need Any Help

Have you ever been in a situation where someone has said, “If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know.” Maybe you just said thanks and never took that person up on their offer, but maybe they would be willing to help you — if you asked. The responsibility in that situation falls on you to follow up. Someone has offered their help in general because they don’t know exactly what you need.

If you can be strong enough to ask for help from that person, you will probably find out that their offer was genuine and that they will be there for you. It makes others feel good to be able to offer a helping hand to a friend or family member.

You should never let your imagined negative feelings associated with asking for help get in the way of what might actually pan out. Maybe you’re afraid that you’ll be indebted to someone who helps you, and start wondering what they might ask in return. Or you think that someone will think less of you just because you said you couldn’t do something yourself. In reality, many people have trouble saying no to a request for help. They have a hard time seeing a friend in need and might even go out of their way to make sure you get what you need.

So think twice before you sabotage yourself and try to do something that you know you can’t do without help. People are out there to help, but don’t count on them checking in with you about it. The one thing you can count on, though, is that you won’t get any help if you don’t ask for it.