Sometimes you have to hit the bottom in order to bounce back. In Kazimierz Dabrowski’s theory of personality development, psychological tension and anxiety are seen as key to growth. Per Wikipedia’s nutshelling of Positive Disintegration:
Dabrowski saw these disintegrations as a key element in the overall developmental process. Crises challenge our status quo and cause us to review our self, ideas, values, thoughts, ideals, etc. If development continues, one goes on to develop an individualized, conscious and critically evaluated hierarchical value structure (called positive adjustment). This hierarchy of values acts as a benchmark by which all things are now seen, and the higher values in our internal hierarchy come to direct our behavior (no longer based on external social mores). These higher, individual values characterize an eventual second integration reflecting individual autonomy and for Dabrowski, mark the arrival of true human personality. At this level, each person develops his or her own vision of how life ought to be and lives it.
Or, in simpler terms, these lyrics that I wrote last year:
(If you’re supporting on Patreon, you have access to the dubious ‘reward’ of hearing me try to sing them. Sorry about that!)