In today’s day and age, self-love is so commonly preached, yet so rare. Loving oneself is an extremely difficult task.
For many people, the concept of self-love might conjure images of self-help books.
But, as many psychology studies attest, self-love and -compassion are key for mental health and well-being, keeping depression and anxiety at bay.
Most of the time, when we’re being too hard on ourselves, we do it because we’re driven by a desire to excel and do everything right, all the time.
This entails a lot of self-criticism, and that persecutory inner voice that constantly tells us how we could’ve done things better is a hallmark of perfectionism.
Studies have shown that perfectionists are at a higher risk of several illnesses, both physical and mental, and that self-compassion might free us from its grip. Therefore, perfectionism and self-compassion are inextricably linked.
Useful resource – TED Talks video: Self Love – https://www.ted.com/talks/self_love
