Life is better today. We have cuter smiles, smoother rides, and the ability to connect across oceans. Yet beneath all this, an insidious undercurrent flows. An invisible yet palpable drainage that suffuses our lives with a chronic sense of anxiety and depression.
Let us discuss a few thought patterns of today (Episteme) that wield such psychological turmoil upon us that we become mentally ill.
MERITOCRACY
One is meritocracy. The glittering promise that all can rise to greatness if they possess the right talents and spirit.
This episteme is unfounded and lacks logical ground. It leaves no room for the slip-ups of fate or the caprice of circumstances. Today, we consider failure as a damning indictment of character. And, as usual, we brand those at the bottom as unworthy souls destined for sorrow. We forget the role played by luck and tragedy.
This leads to a constant state of tension between one’s present condition and future condition; and eventually anxiety — about future, and depression about present. We are all victims of this episteme. We continuously hanker after a definition of ‘meritocracy’ defined by ‘others’ and let our mental state deteriorate. Statistically, only a very small percentage of us are able to ‘rise to greatness’. Rest are all unhappy, sad…
