There is a quality in a certain number of people in which they can no longer adapt themselves to their own material and social realities and retain an accurate image of themselves and the world. A fear of failure forces them to adopt a fictional alternative narrative, which in the end is what moves them, as opposed to reality doing the moving.
There is always a dance between the two - between reality and the ideal. But here we are looking at a scenario in which the latter is no longer negotiable.
