Working as a self-management coach, supporting others to self-manage more confidently, has given me plenty of opportunity to explore the barriers to self-management from the patients perspective. This has prompted me to reflect on my concerns as I embarked a few years ago on playing a new role in managing my health by taking a more active and helpful role… I've tried to think and be as open as possible about the concerns I had about self-management back then, and I'm aware that some of the comments below might have me have seemed (or still seem) like I am/was a sympathy-needing and mentally-unstable weakling, but it is my honest thoughts, shared because I hope they will help others help others embrace self-management. I make no apologies for that fact that this might be controversial, and that not all people will agree with me. These are just my experiences from a few years ago that I'm now ready to share.