Loss Of Backing

n. An abrupt collapse of trust in yourself--having abandoned a resolution, surrendered to your demons, or squandered an opportunity you swore you'd take seriously this time--which resets your expectations and makes it that much harder to guarantee that your word is worth anything, even to yourself. In economics, a loss of backing is when the government no longer guarantees the value of a certain currency, particularly when it's not exchangeable for anything physical like gold or silver, thus it only retains value because we say it does.