Disconfirming Communication

The other day I was talking to my younger brother about the stress I was filling with school, household duties, and the kids and he told me that it was basically my fault for letting everything build up at once. It was a classic case of evaluative communication (judgmental responses). I was not complaining about my life, I was looking for an outlet. I am very happy with my life.  He simply did not give me the opportunity to express my overwhelming feeling of responsibility. I was not defensive, just hurt at how easily I had been disconfirmed, especially because I always make myself available to offer my brothers support and encouragement. When I turned to my other brother for support with the feelings of rejection my younger brother left me feeling, he just told me to get over it and that it was nothing to cry about. His neutrality (lack of caring) left me awed at both of their disregard for my feelings. Feeling stressed with one’s day to day life is not a big issue, but their responses were. I expected more from them, and I am kind of upset with myself for allowing them that much power over my emotions. When it was all said and done my feeling of disconfirmation had transformed into strong defensiveness that left me questioning whether they are people I will turn to for support in the near future.