Best-selling author Mark Manson visited Korea to learn about ‘depression’ in Korea./YouTube
Mark Manson, the most notable influencer in the United States, shed light on ‘depression’ in Korean society. Manson is a best-selling author who has written famous self-help books such as ‘The Art of Not Paying Attention’. He pointed out that the deep problem of depression among Koreans lies behind the global attention that Korea has received economically and culturally, and that this is the result of ignoring the strengths of Confucianism and capitalism and maximizing their weaknesses.
Manson recently released a video titled ‘Traveling the most depressing country in the world’ through his YouTube channel, which has 1.4 million subscribers. During her visit to Korea, Manson met with Americans living in Korea, psychologists, and psychiatrists, and looked into depression in Korean society.
Best-selling author Mark Manson analyzed that Korean society ignored the advantages of Confucianism and capitalism and maximized the disadvantages, which had a negative impact on the mental health of Koreans./YouTube
Manson found the cause of depression in Korean society to be Confucianism and capitalism. “Sadly, Korea maximizes the worst aspects of Confucianism – shame and judgment – while abandoning intimacy with family and community,” he said. “Meanwhile, they promote the worst aspects of capitalism – flashy materialism and obsession with making money. “While emphasizing, the best parts, self-expression and individualism, were ignored,” he said. At the same time, he said, “Conflicting values led to tremendous stress and despair.”
StarCraft players’ ‘camp training’./YouTube
To understand Korea’s mental health crisis, Manson first analyzed the ‘StarCraft success story’. Nick Plot, an American game commentator who has lived in Korea for 15 years, explained that in the past, in Korea, about 10 StarCraft players lived together in a dormitory and trained together. An ecosystem has been created where players share secrets and compete with each other to further grow each other. “From then on, Koreans began to dominate (the gaming industry),” Float said.
StarCraft’s success formula also worked in many fields, including K-pop and sports. Even large corporations like Samsung are setting up dormitories near their companies. “You create an environment where people can focus on what they do, and then you apply intense social pressure and competition to get as much out of them as possible,” Manson said. “This formula has proven effective, but it also creates psychological discouragement.” .
Manson explained that the background to Korea’s emphasis on competition lies in its history, including the Korean War. He said, “Korea’s economic growth after the war was not a matter of choice but a matter of survival,” and “in order to build the country economically, the government had to create an absolutely cruel education system. “As a result, it has placed a tremendous burden on young Koreans.”
Author Seohyun Lee, who majored in psychology at Korea University, said, “Competition is fierce not only in education but in all areas of Korean society. There are many perfectionists in Korea. “If you don’t get 100 points, you are considered a failure,” he said. “This is closely related to depression.” “You always have a feeling of failure,” he said.
In response, Manson explained the concept of ‘cognitive distortion’. One of the common cognitive distortions is ‘all or nothing’ thinking. Korea’s education system has forced this mindset on Korean youth, which has had a negative impact on their mental health, he said.
5 factors that affect depression organized by Mark Manson. These include physical health, stress, social isolation, lack of choice, and shame. /youtube
Manson explained that some of the factors that contribute to depression include physical health, stress, social isolation and loneliness, lack of autonomous choice, and embarrassment. Among them, Koreans tend to feel the rest of the factors, except physical health, more strongly than people from other cultures, and this is analyzed to be related to Confucianism, which influenced Korean society as a whole.
In Confucian culture, society revolves around families rather than individuals. The more you sacrifice for your family, the better person you become. Even if you feel depressed and stop working, you will be treated as a ‘lazy person’ who cannot fulfill his obligations to his family. Because of this, Manson said, Koreans are embarrassed to talk about mental health. In fact, Korea’s suicide rate is the highest among OECD countries, but the depression diagnosis rate is very low. According to one data, only 7% of people suffering from depression seek medical help.
In particular, Korean office workers often lack autonomy in making their own life choices. You must match your work time to your boss’s work time, and you must unconditionally follow your boss’ company dinner call. If you don’t live up to these expectations, you feel ‘shame’. As they are constantly harshly evaluated by Confucian values within society or their families, they come to feel inferior.
“Korea is making amazing achievements in both art and science,” Manson said. “The mental health crisis is a side effect of the most astonishing success in world history,” he said. “The driving force that has made Korea strong is not its remarkable economic growth or its dominance of popular culture, but the world’s rarest and most extraordinary resilience. “Koreans always look for a breakthrough to get out of a crisis, just as they survived the Japanese colonial period and the war,” he said.
In addition, “Koreans must now look deep inside themselves. “It’s a new challenge they face,” he said, adding, “I believe they will find a way.”
2024-01-28 04:02:21
#American #writer #Korea #depressing #country #world #shortcomings #Confucianism #capitalism #Hope
