- Date posted
- 2y ago
people pleasing plus *any theme* anyone?
I'm just curious abt what anyone's thoughts are like when also being a people pleaser?
I'm just curious abt what anyone's thoughts are like when also being a people pleaser?
The people pleasing issue with me is extremely difficult to manage as i have to manage a team at work.. Often I would make the wrong decision in favor of not falling out with a team member.. It really is frustrating for me :(
@donnocd It really is :( especially when I'm aware of how much it negatively impacts me and wanting to change it. There's so many feelings in its ways n out of living this way. at least I'm not alone in this struggle :)
Oh my gosh, I struggle with people pleasing so much. :( All my life everyone has always known me as "the most polite person they've ever met." I really like being polite but as I grew up I lost sight of the impact it had on me and my relationships. In therapy I learned that a response to danger is not just fight, flight, and freeze, but also fawn, which I'd never heard of. Many, many times over, when people have taken advantage of me I fawn and over-apologize and over-explain why they could be "right" and why I actually am in the "wrong" even when the other person is being a bully. It's a part of who I am and of course it was ignited by my own decisions to fawn, but growing up my older sister was SO FREAKING MEAN and CONTROLLING and looked down on me and corrected and scolded and mocked me at every turn, so even though I was naturally nice, she further conditioned me to fawn and appease the danger so as to avoid conflict. I always "knew" that if I didn't submit to my older sister, all of those things she said about me being stupid, weird, messy, lazy, unskilled, etc. would be automatically TRUE. So that behavior carried over into all of my relationships. The worst thing is that I REGRET my intense fawning so much. I'm so glad I'm aware of it and working hard on it, but oh my gosh, just looking back on those arguments I abandoned by pampering the other side makes me wince so hard. I'm so sorry you are struggling with this. It really is difficult and there can be so much retained guilt and fear with it.
It’s hard, but possible to not become one anymore. I’ve always been a people pleaser for the sake of not wanting to argue with people close to me. My unconfrontational attitude towards many things in my life have manifested into things I now talk about in therapy. I know there’s a way to become better and rise above it, you just gotta be strong for yourself & patient. Just like any muscle we can practice and work on our brains too. Compassion for yourself goes a long way.
I’m sharing this bc I need advice or even support from anyone who can relate. If you can’t relate and don’t think you’ll say anything helpful or kind pls don’t comment anything… I’ve been struggling with somethings that’s making me question myself. There has been moments while self pleasuring when I get intrusive thoughts, in those moments it feels like I’m enjoying or even self pleasuring myself bc of the thought. Right after I immediately have an anxiety attack and my HEART drops bc it feels terrible I feel like a disgusting monster :( ppl have told me I haven’t done a bad bc of how intense my guilt and panic are but I keep thinking that MAYBE I made a horrible decision in the moment and the guilt is just realising that it’s just wrong this doesn’t make sense to me because I’ve always told myself that I would never act on this in 1 million years and I’ve been known that these things are wrong so I’m just like constantly questioning myself these feelings and exact same situation has happened two times already I even promised myself that I wouldn’t act on anything beforehand and yeah, I still felt like I did act on my thought during my alone time I’m genuinely convinced that I’m a horrible and it’s even got into the point where I don’t wanna be here anymore and I don’t even think this is my OCD :( tbh
PLEASE do not argue over political stances in this post that is not what this is for at all. For context I consider myself someone with mixed views (politically homeless) and I am connected with people of all stripes and beliefs and stances. After the inauguration in the USA this weekend there has been an overwhelming response from the populace especially online. I feel like I’m completely surrounded by people (on every “side”) who are making very intense and unyielding statements about other people’s morals and values and “good-“ or “bad-ness” based on their beliefs, opinions, responses or non responses to all the different things going on politically. I feel like it’s driving me insane. My head has been spinning constantly and I can’t stop crying. I feel like I’m drowning and cornered and under a police interrogation light. I’m so terrified of saying or doing or thinking or not thinking the “wrong” thing, I’m feeling my heart being torn in so many directions and I’m struggling to stop ruminating and spiraling over feeling like I don’t belong anywhere and no matter what I’m always going to be evil to someone. This is not me taking a side or revealing what I think, or trying to make an implied judgment or comment on ANY political figure, policy, etc….My point is: the issue I’m having is with the way people are talking about these issues and about other people in the midst of these issues, so black and white, so moralistic, and my OCD is having a field day. Just looking for camaraderie and to know I’m not alone in this. I please ask again do not bring up specific political issues or take stances in the comments. Thank you.
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond