Vijay Deverakonda recently opened up about his wife and Ranabaali co-star Rashmika Mandanna’s strong will. “I have always admired her will. She has a level of willpower that is unreal…that’s almost inhuman. She’s just all heart and very simple. I love that about her, and I don’t think it’ll change. Sometimes I tell her the world isn’t all heart and love. You can’t just be a butterfly, little angel, through things because people are going to try to walk all over you, and you sometimes need to take a stand for yourself. She would tell me…I’m scared that if I start doing that, it’ll change me. That it will make me a mean person. I want her to be her. But still be able to draw the line sometimes or be affirmative on certain things. She has gotten a lot better,” said Deverakonda in a conversation with film critic and journalist Sudhir Srinivasan.Rashmika shared, “As a woman, I have started saying no once or twice”.DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.Taking a cue from their candid confessions, we asked Delnna Rrajesh, psychotherapist and relationship breakthrough coach, to explain this stance.According to Delnna, women are not necessarily afraid of saying no. “They are afraid of what saying no might make them in other people’s eyes. From childhood, girls are often encouraged to be accommodating, understanding, forgiving and considerate. These are valuable qualities, but when approval depends on displaying them constantly, kindness can quietly turn into self-abandonment. A woman may tolerate disrespect, accept unreasonable demands or suppress her discomfort because disappointing somebody feels more threatening than disappointing herself,” reflected Delnna.Over time, she may struggle to distinguish between what she genuinely wants to give and what she feels obligated to give.Psychologically, Delnna told indianexpress.com that this can become a “people-pleasing pattern” in which maintaining harmony takes precedence over personal needs. “The difficulty is that avoiding conflict does not necessarily create healthy relationships. Sometimes it simply teaches others that your boundaries are negotiable,” said Delnna.Story continues below this adKindness is a value. “People-pleasing is often a strategy for securing acceptance. They are not the same thing.”The fear of becoming mean is particularly significant. “Many people unconsciously imagine only two possibilities: remain agreeable or become aggressive. But assertiveness offers a third. We can disagree without disrespecting, refuse without humiliating and protect ourselves without attacking anyone,” shared Delnna. Here’s what to consider (Photo: Freepik)Setting boundaries may initially produce guilt, particularly when someone has spent years prioritising others. “Yet guilt is not always evidence that we have done something wrong. Sometimes it is simply the discomfort of behaving differently from what we have been conditioned to believe is acceptable,” said Delnna.A loving partner can encourage this growth, but must also respect the individual’s pace and autonomy. “The goal is not to make a gentle person harder, but to help create space where gentleness and self-respect coexist.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sudhir Srinivasan (@sudhir_srinivasan)The healthiest relationships do not require us to abandon our nature. “They allow us to develop the strength to protect it. You do not have to become less loving to become more assertive. Sometimes saying no is precisely how you stop abandoning yourself while continuing to love others.”Story continues below this adDISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to.