Published on 12, July, 2020
I have always been a "yes man". I always go along with other people to avoid being seen as lazy or not interested. Even if I can't keep those promises for whatever reason and that leads to people being disappointed.
I always struggle to say no, or that an activity or place is difficult for me to get to or if I'm not well enough to stick it out to the end.
I should say that the people I'm talking about are the job centre, social workers, volunteering organisations, etc. Often thanks to my sometimes overbearing parent I'm made to feel like I am in debt to these people.
I used to be like that, until I realised that by trying to avoid hurting others I was really only hurting myself. So what if I didn't go to a works party? Nobody misses people that aren't there, they know they'll see them the next working day so they just get on and enjoy themselves.
Like you I also had an overbearing parent - perhaps that is part of what makes someone a people pleaser, because I'm sure some NT people.are like that too.