I think this post is conflating two categories of facts about myself that I might want to conceal: the weird and the disreputable.
Example: if I only listen to 18th-century Japanese music, that’s weird but not disreputable. If I’m addicted to phenibut, that’s weird and disreputable. (There are also “normal” facts that are disreputable, such as “I’m depressed.”) OP’s example of “personal problems” would fall into the disreputable and potentially weird category.
A person’s answer to the “should I be openly weird” question might not dictate their answer to the “should I be open about disreputable things” question. It can be quite dangerous to be open about disreputable things about yourself; those facts could end up destroying your relationships, ending business opportunities or getting you fired or arrested. Yes, ideally we would be in environments where we could trust our friends to keep private information private, but, people being people, you should not expect ever to be in such an ideal environment. Don’t tell a friend about your personal problems unless you have accepted that everyone in that group will come to know them.
I think this post is conflating two categories of facts about myself that I might want to conceal: the weird and the disreputable.
Example: if I only listen to 18th-century Japanese music, that’s weird but not disreputable. If I’m addicted to phenibut, that’s weird and disreputable. (There are also “normal” facts that are disreputable, such as “I’m depressed.”) OP’s example of “personal problems” would fall into the disreputable and potentially weird category.
A person’s answer to the “should I be openly weird” question might not dictate their answer to the “should I be open about disreputable things” question. It can be quite dangerous to be open about disreputable things about yourself; those facts could end up destroying your relationships, ending business opportunities or getting you fired or arrested. Yes, ideally we would be in environments where we could trust our friends to keep private information private, but, people being people, you should not expect ever to be in such an ideal environment. Don’t tell a friend about your personal problems unless you have accepted that everyone in that group will come to know them.