We live in a society that is highly individualistic in nature. Everyone is concerned with their own dilemmas and everyone wants to excel in their own fields and it seems like coming second in this course of action is highly traumatising. When we think about the reasons as to what could be the reason behind someone being depression, I feel it could be because of the hype we have created about ourselves. We are in constant fear of being judged and what our actions would result in, and what impression it could create among the people who know us. All beings are Agathokakological in nature, i.e composed of both good and bad elements. I feel that we negate our own negative elements and scratch other negative elements so as to create a self-impression of how great and perfect we are. We, the young generation lack being self-critical. We tend to isolate ourselves from people who criticise us because we believe it would help us to negate ourselves from the toxic negativity around us. From my own personal experiences, I can say that it is very silly. We need to evaluate our own self from the perspective of others and that’s the best way for self-improvement. We are in a constant dilemma and race of coming first and proving ourselves as the best. Well, I believe had that been the case then people like Bhuvan Bam, Ayush Mehra, to name a few, would never have reached the place where they are today. We tend to forget and forgo the things that we are actually passionate about. We have stuck our life at such a point where getting fewer marks and attention from people would ‘depress’ us. I strongly feel that we are in a state of complete denial where we are being Panglossian about our future through academics. I observe this state of nature as something that is highly synonymous with what propagated American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley in his theory of ‘looking-glass self‘, which is a process in which people evaluate themselves on how people see them. Accordingly, three conclusions can be drawn from this theory: firstly, people first imagine how they appear to others. Secondly, they imagine how others would judge them on the basis of their appearance. Thirdly, people have an emotional reaction to the imagined judgment such as pride or embarrassment. In simple terms, the ‘looking-glass self’ theory suggests that we come to know ourselves by reflecting on how others see us. That’s how we are losing our original identities and tend to live in a state of complete fantasy in order to impress ‘society’. We need to realise what our actions could result in before its too late and we fall susceptible to social anxiety or depression or other mental health disorders. It is always spiffing to surround yourself with people and be open about your life with parents and friends, because, at the end of the day we all are social beings and we can not survive alone. It is always better to confess what’s happening around you. From my own personal experience, I can assure you that it is a possible solution to our hovering mental stress.
Opinion: Are We Responsible For Losing Our Identities In The Quest For ‘Validation’?
