Are you loved, or are you just useful?

Episode 2: Are You Loved, or Are You Just Useful?In this episode of Everything is going to be ok, no option B, Dr Hanan Bushkin explores one of the most uncomfortable questions in relationships, families and everyday life: Are you actually loved — or have you become useful?There is a big difference between being needed and being respected. A mother can become the family Uber driver. A father can become the ATM. A partner can become the emotional container. A friend can become the person everyone calls only when they need something. And slowly, without anyone planning it, the relationship changes. You are no longer seen as a person. You are seen as a function.This episode looks at the psychology underneath that pattern: why usefulness can feel like love, why resentment builds when appreciation disappears, and why people often confuse being depended on with being valued.Hanan unpacks how families, marriages, friendships and workplaces can become machines where everyone is busy, everyone is doing their job, but the actual person gets lost.The key question is not whether people need you. The key question is whether they still see you. Because being useful may keep you included. But being loved means you are recognised beyond what you provide.A direct, practical and psychologically honest episode about love, respect, roles, resentment, emotional labour, family dynamics, and the quiet pain of becoming invisible inside your own usefulness.