Why Thinking Hard Feels Bad: Doubt, Relationships, and the Emotional Cost of Becoming More Honest (opens in new tab)

Human beings often mistake the emotional pain of reconsidering themselves for evidence that reconsideration is dangerous. Some forms of suffering are not signs of damage. They are signs that the mind is trying to reorganize itself. This is an uncomfortable idea to introduce into modern culture because modern culture increasingly treats discomfort itself as suspicious. If something feels destabilizing, effortful, confusing, emotionally abrasive, or identity-threatening, many people assume some...