The attitude we adopt towards life can bring us closer to a state of satisfaction very similar to happiness or it can boycott us in such a way that we are never satisfied with what we have. Nonconformity is often considered a positive quality or virtue and other times a defect. Because being non-conformists leads us to take action to try to change something and that is very positive, but what if we never abandon that attitude? We wonder if it is bad to be a nonconformist because in this article we are detecting some psychological consequences that can negatively affect us. Look!
What exactly does it mean to be a nonconformist?
Luckily, most of us are non-conformists at some point or in some aspect of our lives. When our expectations are not met, we move so that the results are closer to what we expected. When we don’t like something, we try to change it. When something seems unfair to us, we fight to find that justice. And all of that is positive.
In fact, it is not conforming that moves the world. And it also helps us to improve ourselves, to reach our goals and improve our personal development. Nonconformity is the attitude that can create a better world, so on both a personal and a societal level, yes, we call for a touch of nonconformity.
But like everything in this life, virtue is at the midpoint because not settling for anything can lead us to chronic nonconformity, to the despair of knowing that nothing is what you expected, that nothing seems enough or that life has no meaning. Constant complaining and lack of motivation are the most obvious signs of being too nonconformist, an attitude that can end up making our lives miserable.
Consequences for your mental health of being too nonconformist
- We have to put ourselves on red alert for chronic nonconformity when nothing satisfies us, when we lose the ability to enjoy things that used to make us happy, when we look around us and lose faith in the world and in people, when we constantly complain because everything could be better or when we prostrate ourselves in a passive attitude of “there is no remedy”.
- Among the psychological consequences of being very non-conformist are vital frustration because nothing is what we expected, apathy because we have lost our taste for life, hopelessness because nothing can be done and, sometimes, anger because everything makes us angry. and rejection.
- On a personal level, having such a negative vision of life in which everything is wrong leads to a lack of fulfillment, abandoning our dreams, demotivation and passivity. Our initial efforts when our non-conformity had not yet turned against us did not give the expected results and we have put ourselves in a position of indifference that can end us.
- But wait, there are even more consequences for your mental health. Because being too non-conformist is born from that self-demand and that low tolerance for frustration that are the main ingredients of an anxiety disorder. Anxiety in turn is characterized by fear, which places us in a defenseless position from which we do not dare to act. And it is not uncommon that if this situation continues for a while, depression appears.
Keys to overcome nonconformity
- For this reason, we must take care of the doses of nonconformity that we bring to our lives or, what is the same, we must learn which battles are worth fighting. And it’s never too late to scale back on what amounts to an autoboycott. Do you know what are the keys to overcome nonconformity? They are only three.
- Focus on the present with a look at the past to assess all the achievements made so far.
- Make thinking more flexible when assessing the world or our own life. It is true that it is not what we expected, but what is there around us that makes us feel good?
- Set more realistic goals so as not to get discouraged by what we can never achieve.
- This is the cure for chronic nonconformity, being aware of the good around us and balancing the weight of the past, present and future.