the.com/compartmentalization
the mental art of pretending your work self and your falling-apart self have never met.
means a psychological defense mechanism where you isolate conflicting thoughts, feelings, or roles so they don't have to make sense together.
from from the ship metaphor: vessels built with sealed compartments so one flooded section doesn't sink the whole boat, borrowed by psychology to describe minds doing the same damage control.
freud's daughteranna freud formalized it as a core ego defense.
double edgeprotects sanity short-term, corrodes intimacy long-term.
surgeons rely on itliterally required to operate without emotional collapse.