Research note 04
Why a restorative experience can leave the underlying difficulty unchanged: negative reinforcement, experiential avoidance, acute mood effects of exercise, rumination and the peak-end rule.
Question 03
Relief has value of its own. The problem is narrower: it reinforces whatever preceded it and is remembered better than it was, so it can be repeated while the difficulty stays in place.
Advice 08 · Theoretical
Relief reinforces whatever produced it, and memory overweights peaks and endings. A short, honest review after a cathartic experience separates relief from resolution and prevents escape from becoming a habit.