Sometimes, people become too resilient. Yes, that's right, too resilient. When I was doing my own ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP), I recall telling my prescriber that I didn't have any trauma in my history. My wife, overhearing this statement, giggled, inferring that from what she knew of my life, I had encountered quite a few traumatic circumstances. As typical for a generation X person, and probably increasingly for most all generations before, I had become adept at handling some pretty challenging circumstances by grabbing my bootstraps and carrying on. Of course, many advantages can emerge from this way of approaching life. But, one of the disadvantages is that I had learned, in certain contexts, to accept too many challenges. Consequently, these contexts epitomized a sunk-cost fallacy, preventing me from jumping ship when it was clearly sinking. 

Dan (a pseudonym) also had become too resilient. He had learned to accept and internalize his mother's frequent, critical comments. These comments provided a fertile ground for other self-defeating choices to emerge: 1) a relationship with food, alcohol, and other substances that distanced him from his physical and overall health; 2) a wife whose criticism of and attempts to control him continued even after they finally divorced; 3) an extended period without healthy romantic relationships, consistently pairing with others who were not fully available; and 4) an excessive irritation related to the presence and behaviors of others outside of his long-standing social network. 

BLOG IN PROCESS . . .