Embarrassed at my response to a coworker
 

I had 6 days off in a row, based on how my work days fell. So my coworker asks me last night if I did anything fun or had plans, etc. I responded with, "I found out my dad is drinking again after 15 years of sobriety, despite telling my sister and I he would stop last summer or fall when we started up again in the first place, or maybe he did then and then started anew, or just hid it better..." I am an RN and this was also in front of one of the doctors I work with.

And then, the next thing I know I am telling my coworker, the doctor and 2 others pretty much my life story about the DV, child abuse, my parents' substance abuse, being the oldest child of a single parent, and my own trouble with alcohol. I didn't go into the nitty gritty details, but enough to be embarrassed about what I said. I NEVER planned on telling anyone I work with that, at least not for a while, I have only worked on this unit for about 8 months; I don't know any of them well enough! And it's totally unprofessional!

I'm thinking that tomorrow night, I really need to try that ACoA meeting. At the very least I can see what it's about and if it is something that may help me....I don't know, but I definitely can't be doing that again.

When I was ready to deal with my family of origin and how I wound up in a marriage with an alcoholic, I found a personal counselor very, very useful. I just needed a place to drop that sort of serious stuff.

Peace.

Heh... The other day, my supervisor asked about my middle name (I use it on LinkedIn). I told her, "Well, I changed it about a year ago, partly so it'll match my wife's maiden name, and partly as a last FU to my Dad, with whom I had a rocky relationship... That's probably TMI, but there you have it."

We tell people personal stuff sometimes. They don't think the worse of us for it -- unless they were already inclined to, and if we've been working with them for awhile, they usually aren't!

:You_Rock_

T

Yeah that happens when you least expect it. You may be a professional but you are only human and you had/have unresolved pain. They, being professionals, should understand this so don't feel too bad.

Until you deal with this correctly, it will happen again when you least expect it. At first I used it as a barometer to the person I told my "secrets" to see if they were worthy, depending on how they took it. If they were appalled and used it against me, better to know now than later. I have become much more in control and judicious as to who and when I tell these things now. It will come.