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Tuesday February 14, 2012

Unanswered E-Mails Lead to ‘Shame Spiral’ for NYers

The New York Observer spoke with a few New Yorkers this week who, because of the "hyper-connectedness of modern life," have found themselves in a "shame spiral."  The spiral is a pattern of behavior according to the publication, one that more New Yorkers are finding themselves in because they have put off answering an e-mail or responding to a message on Facebook.

It involves a person screwing up, feeling ashamed of said screw-up, and their sense of shame spiraling out of control into a "whirlwind of avoidance and self-loathing."

The term "shame spiral" was coined by Professor Gershen Kaufman, a native New Yorker who now lives in Michigan.  He told the publication, "The Internet has made us more invisible to each other, but also able to be much more intimate at the same time."

The New York Observer