Stress and Regret: Invisible Torture from Childhood to Old Age

For many, stress is not an "event"—it is the normal shape of life. It begins in childhood with fear and comparison, grows heavier in youth with big decisions and little support, settles in during middle age as burnout, and in old age becomes the bitter fear of dependence and "being unseen." Regret, too, if it never leads to a small action, is not a lesson—it is invisible torture.