Toxic resilience is the compulsive need to keep pushing forward, even when rest or retreat is the wiser, healthier choice. Mental health experts describe it as the emotional equivalent of overtraining an injured muscle—a misguided drive that masks burnout as productivity. Delhi-based Maulikta Kohli knows this all too well. At 29, she was a manager at a leading gaming company, juggling 10-hour workdays, a growing creative platform, and endless family obligations. From the outside, her life looked like a carousel of success. But when her sleep began to suffer, she realised something was wrong. “I thought I was being productive. I didn’t realise I was self-bullying in the name of resilience,” she says. For Kohli, and many others, toxic resilience isn’t strength—it’s a warning sign.
When “bounce back” becomes backlash
Toxic resilience is not about strength but about suppression. “It’s a culturally rewarded form of self-neglect,” explains Shrestha Mudgal, a research psychologist from Delhi. “Today’s world demands hustling and glorifies emotional endurance, making toxic resilience the silent saboteur. It looks like strength but feels like self-erasure.”
The National Mental Health Survey of India in 2015–16, conducted by NIMHANS, found that approximately 10.6 per cent of adults in India suffer from mental disorders, with a lifetime prevalence of 13.7 per cent. The treatment gap for mental disorders ranged between 70 and 92 per cent for different disorders.
Cultural roots of the problem
This brand of emotional suppression is often celebrated, especially in countries like India, where stoicism is quietly baked into the cultural psyche. The concept of sahan shakti (tolerance or endurance) is deeply revered. Clinical therapist Samata Saha Kar, a community psychologist and CEO Prospexive Institute Prospexive Minds, Kolkata, points out, “There’s a certain pride in ‘toughing it out.’ Especially for women, who are conditioned to stretch themselves thin across roles, resilience becomes performative. You’re applauded for never cracking. But inside, you might be disappearing.” The workplace adds fuel to the fire.
The breaking point
Gen Z and millennials are especially vulnerable. Conditioned by hustle culture and Instagram self-help mantras, they often swing between intense productivity and silent collapse. Experts call it ‘high-functioning despair,’ where you look like you have it together until you don’t. But there’s hope. Conversations around mental health have become more mainstream. Corporate burnout is no longer taboo. And more people are asking what it means to be well, not just productive.