Have you felt triggered by the types of questions people are asking? Does it make you feel uncomfortable or perhaps invaded? There are underlying reasons why a person feels at liberty to ask you these questions.
Dr. Abe Bartell, Division Chief of Child & Adolescents Psychiatry at Westchester Medical Center, helps break down the root causes of these invasive questions and offers some valuable tactics to combat such situations which may cause you discomfort.
The asker – why do they ask?
“There are three reasons why someone would start asking these questions,” shares Dr. Bartell. “They could be healthy and appropriate, unintended but uncomfortable, or pathological.”
Healthy and appropriate
A healthy and appropriate reason for asking these questions would include:
Someone who genuinely cares;
Someone who wants to connect;
Someone who wants to help.
These are the more delightful conversations where you feel seen and heard.
Unintended but uncomfortable
Your conversation partner could quickly make you want to end the conversation and run for the hills. Your asker could be doing this due to various reasons, including:
