One of the behaviors I most wish to unlearn is interrupting others when they talk. This behavior serves to undermine my health because it makes me stressful when I annoy my closest friends and loved ones. I suffer enormous anxiety from being told by others that I care little about what they have to say or that I love to hear myself talk because I interrupt all the time. It has stressed me out to the point where I suffer guilt and depression when others view me in this manner, since I know the behavior is unintentional and I truly care about what others have to say. It has gotten to the point where I am almost too intimidated to speak to other people, even when I am close to them, for fear that I will interrupt them and then anger or annoy them to the point where they will want to distance themselves.
I learned this behavior while growing up, as everyone in my family typically talks at the same time and over one another. Such a behavior is beginning to impede my interpersonal communication skills to a level I am uncomfortable with. Despite my intention to respect others and be genuinely interested in what they have to say, I find myself interrupting as a normal part of conversation. I first became aware of this behavior when other people I communicated with that were not family members began to express annoyance over it. I was at first a bit confused as I was used to communicating in this manner. As time went by though, some of my better friends were honest enough to tell me how annoying they found it. I could not understand when they would say things like, “It shows you don’t care about what I have to say,” since my family members never seemed to be bothered by the behavior. However, some of my closest friends began to repeatedly complain about the behavior, telling me they would lose track of what they wanted to say because of my interruptions. This hurt my feelings and made me believe that I should look for way...