India, March 10 -- A 45-year-old client in therapy tells me, "Navigating relationships has become messy. I feel people get offended very quickly. Sometimes I wonder if offence is the new defence. It seems like people's capacity for differing opinions has reduced." Another 35-year-old client tells me, "I feel we have become less sensitive to others around us but are sensitive and touchy about how others treat us."

It's ironical, isn't it? What both these clients are referring to is a theme that consistently shows up in therapy sessions. My sense is that we have become sensitive and more fragile than ever. What follows or is linked to fragility is a belief that people are operating from a place of ill intention. I remember a friend of mine...