Interpersonal Communication
Self-disclosure is an important concept when it comes to interpersonal communication and relationships, in general. Self-disclosure is revealing information about oneself that is not readily available to people around you. As relationships deepen, trust is established and self-disclosure becomes easier and inevitable.
My example of self-disclosure gone wrong takes place in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. I was in the U.S. Army and was starting my Advanced Individual Training. Some people had come from the same states and met traveling to get to Fort Leonard Wood. Some people went through Basic Combat Training (BCT) together and became close in the process. Some had just complete BCT in Fort Leonard Wood and just moved a few blocks away to Specker, where we would spend the next 19 weeks together. Then there were the soldiers that trained in other places and didn't know anyone.
There was no ice breaker, no meet and greet, no real introductions. There was 3 soldiers in each room. We had only been at Specker for 5 days and we were still trying to get comfortable with each other. One night, I was performing my hour duty of watching my barracks. A male soldier came over the radio and frantically asked the sergeant on duty to come to his barracks. Then he said his room mate wasn't breathing. I didn't hear anything else over the radio and my hour was over. In the morning, we found out that a male soldier had died in his sleep. They disclosed to us that he had sleep apnea. In hindsight, if he would have told his room mates of his sleep condition, they would have probably looked out for him overnight better. When you are in the military, you don't want to be looked at as "sick" and that's probably part of the reason why he didn't tell anyone.
This incident is related to self-disclosure because there was no way anyone knew his medical history. He had not built enough trust with fellow soldiers and did not disclose information that could be used against him, where he could have been made fun of for. One has to feel safe when allowing people to know things about them. There wasn't a lot of time to establish trust in one another.
Great story. It was very good the way you were able to make the connections with the male soldier and self-disclosure. I like how honest you are about your experience during your training in Missouri and how instead of using an experience with a positive outcome, you choose a negative one to show the connection.
ReplyDeleteThat is very unfortunate to hear that people in the military don't feel comfortable disclosing information about health conditions in fear of being perceived as "sick." The fact that it costed that man his life is very saddening. A friend of mine has epilepsy and had she not disclosed to me that she has it and explained what to do in the event of a seizure I would be unable to help her. I like how you made the connection between self disclosure and medical conditions because it is not an example we usually think of.
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