Essays

Essays examining psychological clarity, emotional regulation, identity, and the conditions that allow coherent thought and action.

About this series

This series consists of long-form psychological essays focused on understanding how attention, emotion, identity, and meaning function under modern conditions. These pieces are analytic rather than reactive, and explanatory rather than persuasive. They are written to clarify underlying psychological structures, not to comment on current events or offer personal guidance. The emphasis is on coherence: how inner life organizes itself, where it breaks down, and what allows it to stabilize again.

Mind RJ Starr Mind RJ Starr

Extinction Bursts and the Psychology of Escalation

Most people expect change to feel like relief. Instead, the mind often escalates a behavior right as we try to stop it. This essay explains extinction bursts, why intensity can feel like regression, and why humans misread escalation as personal failure. Understanding the pattern restores proportion and helps you stay oriented long enough for real change to take hold.

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