Secondary Gains
In short, secondary gains are those things - illnesses, conditions, habits, financial disparity, etc. - that provide hidden benefit(s) to keeping things the way they are. Such benefits are almost always hidden from our conscious awareness. Though the words gain and benefit usually have positive connotations, in this case they are rather negative because they perpetuate something we consciously want to release or change for the better. However, the hidden gain is so vital to the unconscious mind that it becomes irrelevant that it conflicts with the conscious longing for improvement.
Secondary gains, at the core, are about survival - it's the underlying belief that what is known is better than the unknown, and therefore safe. However, a sense of being safe does not mean it is safe. Even things that are dysfunctional, unhealthy, or even downright dangerous can feel safe. "Better the devil you know than the one you don't" comes to mind.
