paralysis of potential

I think I could spend a great deal of time, research, and writing on a topic that I have tangled with for quite a while.  It is about the fact that there is a certain demographic of people that simply do not live up to their potential.  Of course the world assumes they are failure, but are they really?  What if the potential assigned to them by society is wrong? Is it possible that the sheer pressure of assuming your potential is enough to paralyze someone into nothingness, failure, disgrace? The pressure to produce, perform, and prevail is overpowering in some instances and quite possibly may lead to the destruction of individuals who could have otherwise existed quite comfortably.