ON MENTAL ILLNESS: The Harmful Side of the Success Ethic
Most people are "successful" at most of the things they try to do. Yet many people who suffer from low self-esteem incorrectly believe themselves to be unsuccessful people, and generate negative, self-hating emotions accordingly. Comparing our levels of outward success to those of others is a bad habit that we have learned through unconscious assimilation. Society promulgates a misnomer that we need to have external success (as defined by certain criteria, especially having a lot of money), and if we do not have that, we don't deserve to like ourselves. -more-