I went to a talk lately that was mostly about something else, but the speaker came out with:

“If you only remember one thing from this talk, remember this. Everyone in this room who likes helping people, raise your hand.”

Every hand, or nearly every hand, went up.

“If you like asking other people for help, keep your hand up.”

Almost every hand went back down.

“As you can see, people like helping you. When you ask for help, you’re making them feel good, even if you don’t like asking.”

I’ve genuinely forgotten the rest of the presentation but I won’t forget that.

@morganth

several years back I was in a terrible headspace due to targeted bullying from a co-worker
I pled with all my then friends to let me talk it out with them, or at least to let me know I was not alone. Every one castigated me for bothering them
I don't ask for help for anything important

@libramoon

That's awful. Gives you a very clear picture of how much your friends didn't actually care about you. Being hard rejected when in need is cruel.

I hope you have since made real friends who you could ask for important help from, even if doing so is now somewhat harder emotionally.