Or: People-Pleasing and its Impact on Well-Being People-pleasing is when you censor the voice within to make someone outside of yourself comfortable, and according to technical psychological analyses, it usually stems from a fear of abandonment, judgement or betrayal. People-pleasing requires a nuanced understanding. One that doesn’t lump its definition in with generosity of spirit. This behaviour/way of being is intended to keep you safe and can present itself as fawning or

“I’m not sure why we do it this way, but it’s just the way it is,” said Sameera. “I think we just made an unstated decision that the best way to protect the family was not to talk to her about it,” she said, explaining why all her siblings have been estranged from their eldest sister, a victim of ongoing intimate partner abuse. Twenty years into their sister Dalia’s volatile marriage, the siblings have coped with the ostracization of their sister in different ways. One of the

To wake up one morning, as though almost out of nowhere and for no reason, experiencing probing aches that penetrate inside what feels like one’s bone marrow. To think, is that even where my bone marrow is? To have one’s chest burn with what can only be described as dread, with thoughts racing over speedbumps that scream, what if. To not want to react to any of it, but instead feel stuck, paralyzed by invisible arms holding down one’s body. How could it be though? Just yeste