Why does my brother call me an attention seeker?

19 Answers
Last Updated: 08/06/2019 at 9:30am
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Top Rated Answers
April 25th, 2016 7:46pm
because your brother is doing what brothers do and that is to cause unwanted attention, do not let this bother you
December 21st, 2014 9:01pm
Your brother may be saying these things because he has low self esteem and he is taking his insecure feelings out on you.
September 15th, 2015 3:27pm
Because he doesn't understand your feelings. He doesn't know how you feel, and he has no right to call you that.
Erynn - Expert in Self-Harm
November 21st, 2014 10:01am
I don't know your specific situation, but it may help to think about: what might your brother be feeling right now? What sort of experiences/lack of experiences of his might make it harder for him to understand your feelings/behaviors? How has he felt your words/actions impact him or others? Trying to see from his perspective doesn't mean he is right, and it isn't always easy, but if you can try to get an understanding of what he thinks and feels, it will help you better be able to talk with him in a way that might improve your relationship and change the way he views you.
November 21st, 2014 12:14pm
Well, sibling rivalry is a common feature in all human societies, but again siblings that intend harmful consequences are very rare. If it's possible can you tell him to clarify his basis of accusation? The thing is that you should be taking these things too seriously until it's really harming you!
November 22nd, 2014 4:47am
A lot of times certain actions are seen as attention-seeking because either a) they are a cry for help, and/or b) they bring attention to you in their nature, even though you might not necessarily be trying to get attention. It might be a good idea to talk to your brother about why he thinks the way he does and try to explain your situation to him.
December 7th, 2014 11:16pm
He probably doesn't understand your situation. That's something he probably won't understand unless he's been in it himself.
December 16th, 2014 9:37pm
Sometimes people may not understand everything that you are going through. Because of that, they may think you are just getting more attention than them for no reason.
December 27th, 2014 3:59am
Maybe because he does not understand what you are going through. Being in the same family he may have some of the same issues, so he does not understand why you are the way you are.
January 3rd, 2015 6:19am
Most likely he feels as if he isn't getting as much attention as you are. He might be jealous. He may want all the attention that are/about to be getting and he doesn't like that. So he accuses you of seeking out the attention and taking it away from him.
April 2nd, 2015 8:39pm
He might not understand where you are coming, or why you act the way you do. He doesn't see things the way you do.
April 5th, 2015 1:08am
He may feel that people are giving you more attention than him and is jealous of this. It is possible that he is trying to convince people to stop paying you attention because he wants the attention himself.
June 5th, 2015 3:19pm
Most of the time people don't understand where all of the behaviors people with problems like depression and anxiety come from, so make assumptions like "attention seeker" when in reality, they just don't see the underlying issues that only you may notice.
November 16th, 2015 2:06am
There could be a lot of factors. Sometimes we do things to distinguish ourselves from the crowd. It's a survival thing -- in order to reproduce, we need to be distinct from all the others. He could also be calling you this to insult you.
January 25th, 2016 12:34pm
Because allot of people do self harming to get attention, but useually their is a deeper meaning for it all.
February 2nd, 2016 10:51pm
Because you probably want your parents to divert their attention to you when They are distracted by your brother that is attention seeking or you might fake stuff so they pay more attention to you and less to others
April 30th, 2016 3:47pm
Your brother might not understand self-harm, as some people automatically assume those self harm are doing it to get attention. Some people who self-harm to do utilize it to get attention, to try and get help, or for other reasons. But your brother cannot really know what you are experiencing emotionally and physically because he is not you.
January 8th, 2018 5:57pm
Maybe because of lack of understanding of what you are going through. People who haven't experienced the same thing themselves often don't understand what is like and will struggle to.
August 6th, 2019 9:30am
It is possible that he feels neglected by your parents and feels like you're getting all their attention. Or it could just be a difference in personality. Like I'm a very quiet person while my sister is extremely talkative and to me sometimes it seems like she's looking for attention, whether that's the case or not. It's important to talk to him about it and ask him about what exactly he's feeling. There might be pent up aggression, or it could be nothing. Either way talking can help prevent any misunderstanding from either sides. I hope this was helpful to you.