I really like this topic. I always have and still do believe that personal growth is a good thing. I think of it this way: I’m not trying to compare myself to anyone else, but I know that I am a better person in many ways today than I was a few years ago. I’d like to continue through life this way.
I’ve never really seen any harm in approaching life with the idea that continual self-improvement is a positive. But an article, “I am all I have” from Frits de Lange, a professor of ethics in the Netherlands questions whether this self-improvement culture of today is contributing to the epidemic of depression.
Here’s an excerpt:
…the emergence of the depression must somehow be connected with the moral dictate of neoliberal culture that requires the individual to take his fate into his own hands. The fact that each individual is personally responsible for making himself into someone who amounts to something in the eyes of others and in his own, may be the ultimate depressogenic factor. Every individual today is expected to be his own business, the manager of his own life. Enterprising, energetic, motivated, flexible, stress-proof, communicative, risk taking – these are no longer the ideal traits for success in small and medium-sized businesses; they are the minimal preconditions for all of us to make it in life.
The cultural ideal of the ’makeable’ individual creates a new divide between winners and losers. The losers are those individuals who succumb to the pressure of becoming themselves. They make up the growing army that appeals to mental health care out of sheer necessity. The mental health services as the shadow economy of the performance culture.
While there is no proof that any of the theories considered in the article actually cause or contribute to depression, it’s still a very interesting read, especially if you enjoy pondering existential issues. I’d highly recommend reading the article!
What are your thoughts? Please feel free to leave your feedback, which you may do anonymously.
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