Can Self Help Be Dangerous?

Apparently so according to a segment on Sunrise this morning. However the self help they were referring to were 2-3 day seminars where participants were sleep deprived and forced to reveal deeply personal experiences in front of a huge audience.

I don't see that you need to be psychological expert (which I'm not) to see that this type of "self help" could be dangerous. After all sleep deprivation has been used as a form of torture long before it became a tool used by self help gurus.

Many years ago I particpated in one of these seminars called The Forum. I don't recall much about it, but I do remember being hassled by "volunteers" to become a volunteer myself. Apparently The Forum was the only true path to self fulfillment and enlightenment... And it could be all yours if you worked ridiculously long hours for zero recompense. Not that there's anything wrong with volunteering your time but I think you're better off volunteering your time to help people who, for whatever reason, can't help themselves. The Forum leaders definitely were not in that category!

One thing I do remember learning is that we shouldn't let fear stop us doing what we want to do. I wanted to go parachuting but was too scared.... So I went parachuting. Now that I'm much older and wiser (well defintely older) I'm starting to think I may have misinterpreted the real significance of moving beyond fear....

So, was this self help seminar a waste of time for me? I don't think so. At least it got me to go parachuting!

Hmmm, self help can indeed be dangerous!