Sometimes we call it a choice when stopping has simply become too costly.
Field Notes
The flowers arrive, the guests gather, the dress is fitted, the deposits are paid. Each completed step makes the next one feel more inevitable. A person may still insist—with complete conviction—that this is what they want, not because they are consciously lying, but because admitting otherwise would mean breaking through the expectations, expense, embarrassment, and momentum now surrounding them.
The frightening part is how beautiful and ordinary it can look. No villain. No visible coercion. No one obviously unhappy. Just a sequence of reasonable next steps carrying someone toward a life they may never have freely chosen. Sometimes panic appears only at the edge of the decision, when the part of the self that was never consulted realizes there is almost no room left to speak.