Pride?

I've been realizing recently that I have difficulty asking people for help with what I deem are important things. I can totally ask on behalf of someone else (which is want I want to do as a career, in a nutshell) or with small favors. But if something is important to me, it's difficult to ask. I find this to be an interesting psychological puzzle. My current explanation, which I believe to be correct, is that I would rather not ask than ask and be refused. It's the feeling of being vulnerable from which I shy away more than of inconveniencing someone, though the latter is certainly influential. This is particularly true of needing emotional support, which is how I was able to generalize to the overall explanation of vulnerability. I rarely tell people when I am upset about important things because I would rather languish than tell them and have them not try to fix it. I do not understand how you can love someone and not try to help them when possible. I think there is also a bit of a martyr syndrome in that I am willing to try to fix other people's problems but I label mine as less important. In truth, I think they usually are.

Is there an acronym for falling asleep at the keyboard?