poor me syndrome

Kerre Woodham in a good column on the cult of victimhood that has mushroomed in NZ over the last 3 decades. Recounting a childhood encounter with a sleaze-bag paedophile, she shrugged and brushed the whole thing off. Thank goodness she was raised in an era when folks were made of sterner stuff. Today, she'd be smothered with excess mushy solicitude, coerced into feeling bad, and forced to dwell on painful experiences. Modern counseling does more harm than good by exaggerating and prolonging the original grief. In our blame/victim milieu, we're not expected to take responsibility for our actions, nor for our own emotional responses and coping strategies.

Life aint a bowl of cherries and bad stuff happens to all. Yet our sob-story culture encourages listless enfeeblement and endless self-pity. We need to toughen up; to endure hardship and austerity with strength and stoicism; and learn to 'let go' of grief. Get over it!