ebookgroup

"The Affluenza Virus is a set of values which increase our vulnerability to emotional distress. It entails placing a high value on acquiring money and possessions, looking good in the eyes of others and wanting to be famous.Just as having the HIV virus places you at risk of developing the physical disease of AIDS, infection with the Affluenza Virus increases your susceptibility to the commonest emotional distresses: depression, anxiety, substance abuse and personality disorder (like 'me, me, me' narcissim, febrile moods or confused identity)."


"A major pollutant of the Virus-infected person's inner life is their self-consciousness, triggered by excessive concern about what others think of them. By definition, they are preoccupied with recognition and status, conferred upon them by others. Their fragile self esteem needs constant bolstering from outside, so they tend to agree with statements such as 'I'm self-conscious about the way I look' and ' I usually worry about making a good impression'. It's hard to go with the flow if you are focusing on your faults or inadequacies, fearful of feeling foolish for something you have said or done, excessively alert to the danger of seeming incompetent to others. People with such high levels of self-consciousness are at greater risk of depression, neurosis and narcissism." 112