The Disease of Being Useful

By Toni Oliver

Do you find yourself solving problems nobody asked you to solve?

Do you feel guilty when resting?

Have you ever said, "It's fine, I'll do it," while quietly questioning every decision that brought you to this moment?

Congratulations.

You may be suffering from Helpfulitis.

In The Disease of Being Useful, Toni Oliver takes a humorous, honest, and sometimes painfully familiar look at what happens when being helpful stops being a choice and becomes an identity.

Part survival guide, part personal reckoning, and part unofficial intervention for chronic people-pleasers, this book explores the hidden cost of always being the reliable one, the strong one, the fixer, the organiser, the peacemaker, and the emotional support human for everyone within a fifteen-mile radius.

With warmth, wit, and more than a few uncomfortable truths, Toni unpacks the guilt, emotional exhaustion, resentment, burnout, and nervous system rebellions that follow a lifetime of putting everyone else first-and begins showing readers how to stop overgiving, set boundaries without guilt, and include themselves in the care.

Inside you'll discover:

- Why saying "no" feels like starting a civil war
- How usefulness quietly becomes an addiction
- Why your nervous system may have filed a formal complaint
- The surprising difference between kindness and self-erasure
- How to stop carrying responsibilities nobody officially gave you
- Why the sofa is not, in fact, a crime scene

If you've ever felt responsible for keeping the entire world together, this book is your official permission slip to put some of it down.

Funny, relatable, and reassuringly human, The Disease of Being Useful is for anyone who has spent so long looking after everyone else that they have forgotten to include themselves in the care.

Side effects may include laughter, uncomfortable self-recognition, improved boundaries, and the sudden urge to sit down without apologising for it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0H6GZ61BC
• ISBN13: 9798182449762
• Release Date: June 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"