The Affluenza Virus

The clinical psychologist Oliver James has always been critical of conventional psychiatric approaches toward mental health. His methods and views have been highly criticized in the past. Such was the case in his 2005 piece in the Guardian concerning how many people find the thought of climate change too depressing to think about, and therefore find it easier just to pretend it doesn't exist. Oliver states that most people live in a world of unreal positive illusions.

Oliver wrote on the myth of prosperity in Moving the Goalposts. He notes that most of the time most people are at best not unhappy. And the truth is that we've been deceived into believing that our pursuit of happiness and fullfillment is meaningful. Happiness is very transient and is quickly replaced by the feeling of unhappiness and unfullfillment. By placing happiness as our primary goal, we set ourselves up for depression because our feeling of happiness is short lived and we must constantly set new goals for other forms of happiness. What a frickin vicious circle!

Despite our astonishing technological advances and far higher average standard of living, when I looked at the statistics, they revealed that we are dramatically more likely to be depressive, compulsive and violent compared with in 1950. All mainstream political parties make economic growth the central tenet of their electoral manifesto. "It's the economy, stoopid," we are told - except that, as far as psychopathology is concerned, it's not.

The World Health Organisation did a study of fourteen different nations' health. From their study they found that Americans were six times more likely to have a mental illness than people in Shanghai or Nigeria. According to Oliver, we're all sick with a middle-class virus which is brought on by material envy. He calls this illness Affluenza, which just happens to be the title of his new book. Through media advertising onslaughts, we tend to get hooked on the earn more, spend more, want more cycle of consumerism. Once hooked, our mental health deteriorates and there isn't much chance of any extended happiness and there is a much greater increase of mental illness.

I named it the "affluenza virus" and its symptoms are characterised by the placing of a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame. It results in an obsessive, envious keeping-up-with-the-Joneses state of mind that increases our vulnerability to emotional disorders, and is responsible for rising levels of depression, addiction, violence and anxiety in the developed world. It is, I believe, a contagious disease of the middle classes.

So are we doomed to just keep repeating this consumerist cycle over and over until we basically destroy each other? Once we have been infected with this epidemic mindless consumeristic virus, can we hope for a cure? In Oliver's words, "An epidemic of mindless consumerism is sweeping the world with the compulsive pursuit of money and possessions making people richer but sadder." And not just sadder, but much more self destructive it seems! I truly want to believe the people will come to their senses in time, but my depression over the direction we've taken keeps telling me there is not a chance!