crying too often at social events

[RescueMeFan]

I think this is maybe a combination of anxiety and phobia, and depression as well.

When going to social events...award ceremonies, weddings, birthday parties, I always feel very sad and weepy, and at occasions where I should feel happy.

Also, since early childhood (I am 44 now), I become terribly weepy and can't stop crying whenever I visit someone in the hospital. Going to the hospital if I have a medical problem (or to the doctor) doesn't bother me at all. Even when the person isn't very sick, I still can't stop with the flood of tears. I hate it. I feel like the biggest fool. :crying:

I remember as a kid, visiting my grandmother or grandfather in the hospital, and being very tearful and sad, and other family members scolded me and said I shouldn't be sad, and shouldn't feel this way.

My overwhelming emotions embarrass me, and I'm sure they make others uncomfortable.

What, if anything, can I do?? Will anti-anxiety meds help with this? I do also have depression (it is moderate and I still function pretty well), but keep it mostly at bay with exercise.

 

[Kiwong]

Focus on something other than the need to cry? Like counting back from 100

 

[Megaten]

^That or maybe some kinda meditative thing could help settle you in the moment? I know people do a lot of things to calm them down if they have a bad temper, maybe it'll work for other strong emotions too.

 

[kilojoule]

I remember as a kid, visiting my grandmother or grandfather in the hospital, and being very tearful and sad, and other family members scolded me and said I shouldn't be sad, and shouldn't feel this way.

I'm sorry that you were told that, its messed up. My upbringing was pretty strict. I was told not to cry when my mother died and if I so much as sighed at the funeral I was discreetly kept in line...it definitely had an effect on me.

My overwhelming emotions embarrass me, and I'm sure they make others uncomfortable.

What, if anything, can I do?? Will anti-anxiety meds help with this? I do also have depression (it is moderate and I still function pretty well), but keep it mostly at bay with exercise.

:sad:

Its interesting cos if I understand your post correctly your issue is not that you're experiencing the emotions all the time because you say you're functioning pretty well but that your experiencing them in what you deem to be an inappropriate setting. And maybe the setting has something to do with it. Maybe there is some root there, like being told not to cry visiting a loved one in hospital. I would really recommend talking to someone about it, might be something there that you need to talk about that you didn't know you needed to talk about, these things have a way of re surfacing.

I would imagine that if you're feeling the restriction that you can't express emotion, it can make you feel very anxious and then worried about expressing emotion and then overwhelmed which must be exhausting. Familys have a lot to answer for. I really think that talking to someone might help you figure out why you're feeling this way and that could help you get to the bottom of it.

I hope that this gets better for you