To ask if anyone else is as suggestible as I am?

[Tweaker]

I haven't met anyone else who is so suggestible and therefore very changeable. I am driving myself MAD with it as I lurch from one extreme to another. Big things and small. I've been thinking about this for a while and these are just some examples from the last few days:

• I've been wrestling with whether or not I want another baby. I see something about people travelling and maybe a thread about how hard parenting is. I think "they're good points/factors, I am better off not having another child." Then I hear about a friend being pregnant or a bloody happy advert, "I must have another baby! It's essential! What was I THINKING doubting it?" Until something happens and my position changes again.
• met a woman whose family live in Australia. Think, "I should move there, life's for living! Taking chances!" Then I have a zoom chat with my brothers or see a tv show about the Lake District and realise I could never move, what was I thinking!
• that's the perfect wallpaper/picture/style I'll get that! See something else...urgh! How could I ever have liked that!

And so on...Exhausting. For context, I am a reasonably intelligent, professional 40-something woman. Please tell me I'm not alone or at least how to tune in to what I really want/think...

Nappy advert, not happy!

Hyperactive mind? I know plenty of people like you describe!

Try writing down your thoughts to release some of the tension/ideas.
I agree it must be exhausting.

Is it worse when you are stressed?

Told my friends I'd decided to move to Cambodia (which I did do). They laughed and guessed, correctly, that I'd watched Lara Croft the night before!

I’m very much like this Op. I have been on the verge of starting a thread recently to help me make a bloody decision. (But then my mind keeps flitting to other things )

I feel on here people are ver quick to diagnose mental health or neurological issues. But could it be add/adhd? Or a hyperactivity issue? How happy and content do feel in life? Do you feel you're looking for something to make you happy?

I'm pretty suggestible. It's a fault in many ways, but it goes along with a vivid imagination and an ability to lose myself completely in certain situations or atmospheres, so it's not all bad. Weirdly, I can also be very stubborn.

Thank you all. Very helpful and interesting responses. I think I will try writing them down, seeing what happens... I love the Cambodia example - very me 🙄 it's almost like there's so much to see and do how does anyone decide? Which, ironically, stops me doing anything.... yes probably worse she stressed now I think about it...

Also, yes good point about a vivid imagination. The intrusive thoughts and images I have you wouldn't believe - maybe it ties in with this. A constant restlessness perhaps but that's no to say I'm unhappy. I'm not. Just easily swayed about what will make me happier/better/worthy.

@YouBoughtMeAWall this thread has been on my mind for quite some time!

Wow you could be describing me to the last detail, especially the having another child bit. I find writing down what I actually want tends to help. Sometimes it makes me feel upset, like I don’t have a personality or something because it seems like I don’t know what I like or who I am.

I also rush around and do things very quickly if that’s relevant.

@ButterMeUpScotty yes it upsets me at times for exactly that reason - like I don't have a sense of self like others (who always seem so certain about things) have.

Yes!!! This is so me. I also let other people’s suggestions cloud my thoughts. For instance I want a new sofa, I find the one I want. My mum find another not quite so nice but a lot cheaper. I spend weeks deliberating and still have not purchased either. I get stuck in my indecisiveness. It wakes me up at night. It’s like when I have options I struggle to decide.

I am educated, I have a great job managing lots of people but cannot pick a bloody sofa (and that’s one in a million examples)

Yes, I'm very suggestible. I also find it hard to make decisions in case I make the wrong one. Although once I've made a decision I'm usually quite stubborn about it. Interesting that a pp mentioned adhd - I've just been referred for an adhd assessment.

@Marlboroandmalbec34 Are you me? I've been trying to choose a sofa for 3 months now, and will probably end up sticking with the one I have!

You are not alone. I despair sometimes! I get anxious over stupid things, like furniture. Sleepless nights and late night googling a side board with or without a wine rack is my current dilemma.... we don’t even need a side board. Or do we

Sometimes it makes me feel upset, like I don’t have a personality or something because it seems like I don’t know what I like or who I am.

@ButterMeUpScotty yes, I've had lots of times when I've felt exactly like this too. You're not alone.

@Mangermaid thank you. It’s weird, a bit like other posters I just feel like there is so much to do and not enough time to do it all! I like a lot of things and have a real strong sense of not wasting my time on earth, I’m afraid of wasting it by doing the “wrong thing”.

I read the thread title and thought 'well I'm not suggestible' but then I read your OP and it sounds just like me and now I'm worried I don't have a personality like pp said. I have wondered if I have ADHD before too. I'm always changing my mind about whether I'd like another baby/ where I should live/ whether I should dye or cut my hair into a different style/ is my DH lovely or annoying/ should I have more wine or become teetotal/ do I like jeans or dresses/ what career should I have. I'm always tired so perhaps it's this restlessness causing it. I'm always drawn to calm, centred, settled, straightforward kind of people who know who they are and where they are going and I sometimes wish I was more like that.

Sounds like you don’t know yourself well so your jumping from this to that.

I’m like this too! I can’t have a “proper” career as I can’t concentrate on one thing before decided I’d quite like to be something else! Completely different tho like training to be a Dr (I do actually work in a hospital) to being a plasterer 😂

Yup that's me.

I decide I'm going to be an expert in crotchet, buy the stuff try it and abandon it. Also I'm backwards and forwards on the decision to have another baby.

I do have anxiety (diagnosed) which I have had various medication and therapy for. I become more erratic when I get stressed, that when my online purchases go crazy. I'm always looking for a solution to fix me.

Luckily I have it under control now, my DH monitors me to make sure I'm ok.

I’m like this but I’m in a current state of suspended animation wondering where the fuck I am going or even want to be. Many doors have suddenly opened and I’m really not sure which one to step through.