Too Nice vs Too Selfish — Finding the 'Healthy' Middle Ground

Too Nice vs Too Selfish — Finding the 'Healthy' Middle Ground

From Saving Lives In Slow Motion by Dr Ayan Panja

June 11, 2026 · 17 min · Season 1 · Episode 225

About this episode

This episode explores the balance between being too nice and too selfish, examining their impacts on health.

In this episode I look at two basic traits people often have and whether they impact our health. People pleasing:  https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/my-side-of-the-couch/202408/people-pleasing-as-a-symptom-of-childhood-trauma Exhaustion from being too nice?  https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-genius-of-empathy/202412/are-you-exhausted-from-being-too-nice Emotional suppression:  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24119947/ Selfishness of different kinds?  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7265883/ Jungian masculine/ feminine archetypes:  https://scottjeffrey.com/king-warrior-magician-lover-masculine-archetypes/   Healthy selfishness?  https://andrewwilkowilkinson.medium.com/10-reasons-why-being-selfish-is-important-for-you-e5a28bf22b13 Amandaland: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m0024pyy/amandaland Save your life in slow motion and those of others by subscribing now and sharing. Thank you for listening and for your support. It means a lot to me. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Dr Ayan Panja

Topics covered

  • people pleasing
  • emotional suppression
  • selfishness
  • mental health
  • Jungian archetypes
  • healthy boundaries

Keywords

  • people pleasing
  • emotional exhaustion
  • selfishness
  • mental health
  • Jungian archetypes
  • healthy selfishness

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Psychology Today, PubMed, PMC, BBC

Books & works: Amandaland

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