robustness in an instant. I’ve seen quite a few men and women with a cancer diagnosis in hand who were escaping their death anxiety in the arms of a new love. Infertility puts us face-to-face with the inability to create life. Unyielding unemployment saps our confidence and makes us feel worthless. Depression robs us of hope and joy. Dangerous circumstances like wars or disaster zones incite us to take unusual emotional risks. In the face of the helplessness and vulnerability we feel at such moments, infidelity can be an act of defiance. Freud described eros as the life instinct, doing battle
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