This reminds me a lot of “plucking” behavior in parrots kept as pets. When left bored and alone, they get depressed enough to pluck out their own feathers, even though it causes them great pain. It’s a sure sign of abuse or neglect if you ever see a bird, particularly the smarter species, with lots of bald patches.…

Preach. It’s actually crazy the things people get used to and call “normal.” Thanks for writing about it. Your post reminded me of another article I read, which likens rapists to “missing stairs,” a metaphor for obviously wrong things that we just adapt to for some reason. I thought you might be interested in reading…