Last month, the Los Angeles Times discussed "post-traumatic embitterment disorder." According to the article, the clinically embittered "feel the world has treated them unfairly":
Embittered people are typically good people who have worked hard at
something important, such as a job, relationship or activity . . . . When something unexpectedly awful happens -- they don't get the
promotion, their spouse files for divorce or they fail to make the
Olympic team -- a profound sense of injustice overtakes them.
Sounds like garden-variety embitterment to me. But anyway, here's an observation that has proved therapeutic for me: If the world actually lived up to your very high, meritocratic standards, you'd probably be even less successful than you are now.
(Via Psychology Today, via Arts & Letters Daily.)
