Why you take advice as criticism #psychology #selfcare

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Have you ever dismissed advice and later realized, "Hey, they were probably right."

[00:00:05]But, it was simply because who it came from? There's a specific reason why that happens. And once you understand it, you can actually do something about it. You see, when your nervous system is even mildly dysregulated, threats to your autonomy register as bigger than they actually are.

[00:00:21]Someone offers you help and it feels like criticism. Someone makes a suggestion and it feels like control.

[00:00:27]The nervous system has already assessed it as a threat before you've had the chance to evaluate whether what they're saying is useful or not.

[00:00:36]And when it comes from a particular person, say a parent or a partner or a manager, the stored history adds another layer. The threat fires faster and stronger than it would from a stranger saying the exact same thing.

[00:00:49]This is why people reject the very things that would help them.

[00:00:53]The content isn't the problem, but the nervous system state is. With a more regulated nervous system, the same advice lands very differently. And you can actually evaluate what's being offered rather than just defending against how it feels.

[00:01:10]The more you understand about this, the more you can do about it. So, subscribe and we'll go deeper and explain more how it all works.