Hiding a layoff from the family, bad idea?

I was laid off 18 weeks ago and have not told my family because I do not want them to worry. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. Bills are coming up and I cannot keep this quiet. Did it get easier afterwards?

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it last year, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.