incident-postmortem · 2026-04-14
When workaholism becomes a way not to be at home.
Case. One partner gives more and more time to work; home becomes a place they don’t want to return to.
Model. Redirecting load to a “safe” loop: work has clear success metrics, home doesn’t. It’s escape, not a career.
What helped. They named the avoidance; returned predictability and warm rituals to home so returning felt good.
Lesson. Work shouldn’t be a shelter from your own marriage.
Case is synthetic and anonymized; any resemblance to real people is coincidental. Not therapy or legal advice.
The son and his wife moved in “for six months” — and the couple’s system stopped being a couple’s.
A parent of one spouse died — and the couple found they grieve out of sync: one cries, the other “holds up”, and both are lonely.
Why “relaxing” turns into escape, not rest.
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