The Sunken Place: Assessing and Leaving Toxic Environments
Letting go and getting out - before it's too late
In 2017, Jordan Peele debuted his film, Get Out, which starred Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams and other promising actors the American horror film. The plot followed Chris, an African-American man who decides to visit his White girlfriend's parents during a weekend getaway. However, his getaway takes a turn for the worst as he comes head to head with the shocking secrets whilst on the family estate. The film explores racial tensions, slavery and the issues faced by Black people in modern-day America.
During the film, there’s a point at which Chris falls into the ‘Sunken Place’, a psychological void whilst he is being hypnotised. The Sunken Place became an enduring metaphor for the history of slavery, but the idea of being ‘sunken’ or held captive in a dark place, has had a far longer literary and metaphoric significance in history.
In fact, the premise of being ‘sunken’ is commonly associated with entrapment. Long before Get Out, humans found themselves trapped in all manner of shenanigans - warfare, climate changes, natural disasters. We’ve also found ourselves trapped on a more interpersonal, social level - in our relationships and environments.
Many of us are ‘sunken’ in toxic relationships and environments, with no apparent end in sight. If you feel as though you could do with a hand to get out of your own sunken place - this article is for you.
Key Points:
The sunk-cost fallacy
Investing in long-term vs short-term fixes
Identifying toxicity: the signs
Preparing your exit strategy
The sunk-cost fallacy
The sunk-cost effect is the phrase used to describe the decision to continue with an investment purely because you’ve already invested so much into it - irrespective of whether you are getting positive or negative returns on it.
When we think of the sunk-cost fallacy, we think of more ‘big-picture’ engagements and historical phenomenon. It’s been used to describe the prolonged U.S. military campaigns in Vietnam and Iraq which have had detrimental effects on the US economy, and the loss of tens of thousands of lives. It’s been used to describe top-up investments in sinking cryptocurrency wallets, with the hope of a rebound or drastic increase in overall profit once the never seen boom in the market. But what are the implications for our every day lives and relationships?
Nothing in life is free. If it’s free, it just means someone else is paying for it. When it comes to toxic habits and toxic relationships, these are outputs and realities which cost you something. Some of the common costs associated include: