I have been told in the past that I am fragile. What does that mean?

I don´t feel fragile. I feel like I have survived a lot if stuff and lived to tell. I may come across as fragile but I don´t think I am on the inside, so I hate that term.

So what does fragile mean to you?

[Grae]

I don't know if this is right but to me, you are fragile if you find it difficult to maintain a facade of normalcy amidst a feared or any unpleasant circumstances. You lack emotional strength, you are easily affected by the things around you, especially the negative ones. That's how I understand it.

[Hope-Full]

I am fragile, too. I also suffered a lot, survived a lot, and lived to tell the tale. I too feel like that actually made me stronger.

Reality is that while I can put up a strong front, I AM fragile. I'm very sensitive and prone to tears very easily, the thing is, that I keep that side of me hidden from all but T. Just looking at me at work or if you saw me out and about, you wouldn't think anything of it. But when I get into that safe, caring, and comfortable place T provides, I fall to pieces because I can let that armor go. Same thing happens at home more frequently. When I get home from work, and no one is around, the smallest thing (think: burnt toast) can set me off, even though it shouldn't.

I guess I see my fragility as part of being hypersensitive and working so hard to hide that.

[autotelica]

A guy at work tells me I'm so "fragile", like it's a compliment. I've asked him about it (gently telling him that I don't consider "weakness" a good trait), and he says to him it means being delicate, like a flower.

I don't think I'm delicate, fragile, or especially weak. But I kind of look that way because of my physique and my quiet demeanor. And I would guess that my therapist thinks I'm fragile because even though I'm not sensitive or reactive to normal day-to-day things, I lose all equilibrium when something I've never encountered before crops up. I also have a difficulty time getting angry rather than sad. That speaks to a certain fragility in my make-up. But that doesn't mean I'm not strong in other areas.

[Sunne]

I have been told that I am fragile too. I also put on a strong front, to protect myself. Underneath I am very wound up and close to breaking a lot of the time. Most of my energy is spent keeping myself together, which is very tiring.

I think of fragile as 'handle with care'. I don't mind being called this because I too, have survived a great deal and know at this point in my life being handled with care is what I need.

I have not allowed myself to be fully fragile in front of T yet. I can feel it coming, keeping it together is getting hard.

I was in a fragile state when entering therapy 9yrs ago. I had suffered a break down the last yr of my addiction. I wasn't coPing with life in anyway. I cOuldnt process any feeling and was using drugs to numb out. O was fractured and it felt that way too inside.