Definition: The socially acceptable Ponzi scheme where you over-invest in others’ comfort at the expense of your own [emotional reserves], believing it buys loyalty. Short-term deposits of “yes” and [suppressed needs] create the [illusion of harmony] and control.
Inevitably, the emotional interest compounds. You crash when the unsustainable facade collapses into resentment, realizing you [trained everyone] to expect withdrawals from an account you never funded for yourself. It’s [self-sabotage] disguised as politeness.
Example: Maria always covered shifts and never complained, draining her emotional reserves until she snapped at a minor request, realizing her suppressed needs built unsustainable resentment.
He constantly agreed to family demands, maintaining an illusion of harmony until overwhelmed, recognizing he’d trained everyone to ignore his own depleted emotional account.