Have you ever noticed that every time you turn on the television or open the pages of a magazine, you see ads for prescription pills to help with depression or anxiety?
Why do Americans swallow 20 million antidepressants and smoke 8.25 billion cigarettes every year? What about those who continue to smoke cigarettes even while on life support?
Why did the typical American watch an average of 34 hours of television per week in 2010? Likewise, why has the world spent 200,000 years playing the game Angry Birds?
While the numbers I’ve just cited continue to increase, we could add statistics for many other new-normal behaviors. Look at how normal it has become for both parents to work 24/7 to get ahead while the children fend for themselves. Consider the individual whose new normal is working harder than everyone else just to be able to acquire enough things to “keep up with the Joneses.”
This might include having a bigger house, a newer car, a closet full of designer clothes, an Ivy League education, an enviable career, or a perfect relationship partner. What about the person whose motto is “shop until you drop?” The ease of “charging it” is another new normal for those who don’t have cash. We could add the growing number of people who go into debt every year because of gambling and overspending as well as the 10% of Americans who shoplift
to feel better.
Of course, once we engage in any of the new-normal behaviors, we have to make it okay to continue doing so by minimizing, rationalizing, and justifying them, not only to others, but to ourselves as well.
What abnormal behaviors have you normalized for yourself without realizing it? How do you minimize, rationalize, and justify engaging in them to others? How do you minimize, rationalize, and justify engaging in them to yourself?
