My view on smothering:
When you meet someone new, you drop all your own plans to adjust to theirs.
You cannot think of anything else, your routine life is changed to conform around their life and it's hard for you to concentrate.
You wake in the morning thinking of things to do that will make you more interesting to you new 'friend/s'
You loose the sense of 'self' and will go through changes in lifestyle just to be a part of something - compromising all the time - that's stressful.
Sometimes you find yourself saying and doing things that are not the 'real you' - cheating on yourself and your natural development.
You start being envious of other 'new' people in that circle for fear that you'll be replaced by them.
When in conversations, you have to outdo the others just to stay 'interesting' or you just might be excluded.
These are just a few things you could be going through, whether it's with new girlfriends or a new guy.
It might hurt when people tell you that you smother, but if it's comes from those who liked the 'original' you, feel free to ask them if they can help you - these are the ones that got close enough to you to care and probably noticed the changes you are going through. If they turn out to be real friends they will help you even if you don't initially like what they say. That's what friends are for.
If you'd like to give us some examples of these smothering indications, we might be able to help you break them down.
Stay with us, and keep us posted.
Space is something everybody needs to reflect and collect themselves at crucial times. It gives us the opportunity to think over a lot of things, or not think about anything at all.