Wednesday 24 January 2007

I heard Oliver James on the radio this morning talking about his new book... it's called 'Affluenza - How to Be Successful and Stay Sane'. In his book Oliver argues that we are suffering from selfish capitalism which causes mental illness by spawning materialism or as he puts it, the affluenza virus. He argues that the reason we have such high and increasing levels of mental illness and unhappiness is that we place too high a value on money, possessions, appearance and fame. His studies in countries across the world prove that people who strongly subscribe to virus values are at greater risk of depression, anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorder.

It's true that the things that really matter are people, family and relationships.
Chris

1 comment:

Chris Edwards said...

It was really encouraging to hear from Sushil about the fast-paced consumerist society we are in and its' corrosive and destructive inmpact on us as human beings. Time for thinking and reflection are critically important to our well-being, our happiness and our relationships.
Chris