[Special guest] Live chat with Katherine Hicks for RUOK? day!

[anastasia_ruok]

I ask in a professional context very frequently As every day me I try to check in as much as possible. But there's probably one stand out conversation with my flatmate. He'd just gone through a pretty messy break up. I could see that things had been bubbling for a while. We'd met up in the city and something was off. So I said, "Want to head home? We can order in a pizza?" He just kinda looked at me and nodded. When we got in the cab I turned to him and asked him what was up. He burst in to tears and it all came flooding out. He was feeling alot of tough emotions. We chatted for hours and discussed what was going and what might help. 3 months on he's doing so much better!

[Ben-RO]

@roseisnotaplant i think it's interesting that once we kind of crack the shell it becomes a lot easier to share the tough stuff, and in turn the tough stuff doesn't seem quite as tough 

[RevzZ]

That sounds like a good point @j95. Even the act of asking someone can help them by letting them know that there are people out there who do care about them. 

[roseisnotaplant]

@Ben-RO I totally agree. But it is so difficult to ask that first time though, or to even be asked and say 'no'.

[Ben-RO]

@Bay52VU well not all of us are talkers, some of us are texters and that's okay! I have seen you go way beyond the support of just asking "RUOK?" on here. 

[anastasia_ruok]

That's a good point @roseisnotaplant. Maybe we can talk a bit about how to help someone open up?

[Katherine-ruok]

The bonds we have are so powerful and a sense of belonging goes a long way to building self esteem. I know for me having the opportunity to share with my friends and be there for them is one of the greatest parts of friendship

[roseisnotaplant]

@anastasia_ruok I think it has a lot to do with how willing that person is to get help or talk about it in the first place, but I would love to hear how you can help someone be more open. What do you guys think?

[Ben-RO]

@Katherine-ruok agreed! Knowing you've got your mate's back in a tough time and vice versa is what freindship is all about! 

[Chessca_H]

@roseisnotaplant that's true, a lot of people might have a knee jerk reaction to say "I'm fine" even if they're not due to how they feel about opening up. What might you be able to do for people who have that reaction, but you're still pretty concerned about?