Self-Help Questions
August 2nd, 2006 by Aaron
Awhile back a few bloggers I read linked to a study on the self-help industry. The gist of the study, the part that made the news at least, was that the biggest determining factor in whether someone bought a particular kind of self-help book was if they had bought the same kind in the last eighteen months. This was taken, in what I read, to be evidence that self-help is in large part a scam.
I’m a little late coming to the conversation, but something about it didn’t sit right with me. It ignores a key factor in personal growth: time.
Personal growth is difficult. You don’t change internal narratives and long learned patterns quickly. It would be foolish to think that the first time you read something explaining your problem and a possible solution that it will be all you need, particularly if what you struggle with in any way concerns low self-esteem, self-critical thoughts, or other such negative (or destructive) feelings.
I imagine it’s something that anyone who deals with social anxiety understands well. Since beginning to appreciate how SAD affects my life, I’ve realized that progress can be very tricky. It’s as if the moment you are not being very clearly spoken to and seeing crystal clearly what your problems are, you immediately feel the pull of old behaviors. And it takes a fair amount of time before slipping into the familiar is no longer so seductively comforting.
I would guess one larger problem has more to do with the partial nature of a self-help book. A particular book can give you new ways to think about things, but they don’t change the environment you’ve built for yourself, which is most likely teeming with the consequences (and re-enforcements) of the issue you are trying to address. I have certainly built much of my life around social anxiety and to suddenly start acting differently would mean changing much more than just the way I think about my thoughts.
Of course, there are negative aspects to the self-help industry. A fair amount might be mostly a way of making a buck. And often enough people probably are looking for a quick fix and not willing to do the hard work. But equally important to keep in mind is that if you are looking to genuinely change some aspect of your life most likely you are going to need constant input on how to effect that change. You are going to need to read a lot of books on the same topic.
What do you think about the self-help industry? Do you consider books that deal with social anxiety a part of this industry?
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2 Responses to “Self-Help Questions”
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Ryan Oelke wrote on 09/18/06 at 8:29 am :
Good points, Aaron. Yeah, I also commented on that article a while back. Sure it contains truth, but it’s very partial. This is a third person interpretation of a third person observation of one particular behavior of individuals, i.e. they noted how many SH books people bought over a period of time, then interpreted what that means. Actually, the full details of the study is not made explicit, only a general conclusion and interpretaton. Very flimsy conclusion. I’m not saying that it doesn’t provoke a much deserved wondering about the self-help industry, but to rest on such assertions is just silly and bad research. It’s one thing to pose some tenative wonderings off of a survey (of an unknown nature), quite another to come to deductive conclusions.
“If what we sold worked, one would expect lives to improve. One would not expect people to need further help from us–at least not in that same problem area, and certainly not time and time again.” Assertion: If people improve in a particular area they don’t need further help. Why? That statement is unsupported. What this is really saying is that improvement is a limited, finite process, like having a broken leg set. When it’s healed, it’s healed. I’m only giving an example, simply wondering what exactly is underneath this conclusion. Most of personal development falls under the realm of the psyche and the mind, generally speaking. That realm is very complex and further more, whoever said that improvement is something that stops? That is more in line with the medical model. Human potential is vast and seemingly infinite. Sure, I believe that many folks in the SH industry could play off of that and dupe people, but making generalized statements about the entire industry is way off the mark.
Jessica wrote on 01/10/08 at 10:31 pm :
Awesome Post! Thanks a lot for the information.