When you say, "I've never told anyone this before," why did you tell that person?

Usually it was because that person was having a similar experience to the one I am about to reveal.

I rarely have done that.
In fact,I can’t think of the last time I said that.I think if you want a secret to remain a secret then it is best to keep one’s mouth shut.
I handle most of my dilemmas myself,but if I need to talk to someone,there are a few people that I can talk to.
The people I can talk to have shown themselves to be trustworthy through their actions.

Felt comfortable, safe and was in the moment.

More n’ likely, I’m just ready to tell someone. To me some things are no fun keeping all to yourself.

I was tired of keeping that “thing” to myself and felt comfortable enough to tell them. I’d only do that if I was under intense pressure though, when it got too much and I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

I have confided in my wife for many years with situations that have involved the police.

Until I retired, there were many situations that I would not even tell her. Now that I am retired, I have discussed a certain police officers house that was burglarized, after making a comment that a certain police chief had been stealing color tv sets. I worked that case and I did not tell her, until now, because NOT having this information would not place her in a dangerous situation. If, you know what I mean.

i don’t think i’ve ever said that before <—- open book
if i have said it, it was probably for theater. :D

I’ve never used that phrase with anyone except my wife, whom I trust totally. : )

One of several reasons, maybe a mixture thereof..

- Enough time has passed since the event that the shame/embarrassment/whatever has subsided enough to finally talk about it.

- The moment and the person feel right.

- The person has confided in me.

- The person has confided in me about a similar situation.

- I’m full to bursting with whatever it is, have thought about it over and over, and I just have to get it out.

- None of the above—complete impulse.

- And so on. :)

Because I was inebriated.

In a very recent instance, I told a story of something that had happened to me in childhood because of a strong parallel to something that the other person was telling me. She was troubled by it, and so I told her to let her see that I understood what it felt like.

I like my secrets. I like preserving a little mystery. There are some things I’ll probably never tell at all, though I suppose I might if the time were right and the telling of them seemed to have some value.

Because I’d kept it to myself for about 42 years and keeping the secret was literally killing me.

To get it out of my system or to build trust. Knowing something about someone that no one else knows is a really special thing. It makes you realize how much they trust you.

I don’t think I ever said that to someone, although I have told things to certain people that nobody else heard. I’m thinking that starting the approach this way is a means of indication of trust to the person who’s about to hear something.

I don’t say. But I do feel more comfortable discussing some things with relative strangers, knowing that just as I’ll forget them in a few hours, they’ll never see me again.

Doctor patient confidentiality.