The self-help genre can be helpful for individuals who may be struggling, but often people disregard the bad parts of the genre because they think it is necessary to help them. Often, people reading the self-help genre believe that they have to do everything in every book in order to be successful, satisfied, and happy. However, this just isn’t the case. There are many criticisms against the self-help genre, such as it gives a sense of false hope to the readers and that it can make excessive and exhausting demands. “I totally agree that it sets unrealistic standards,” said interviewee Lily Egan when asked if she agreed with the criticisms against self-help books. It sets unrealistic standards because it gives people the idea that there is a perfect person out there who does all the things in every self-help book, but that just isn’t the truth. No one is perfect and no one can sustain doing every workout and routine and eating every healthy meal every single day for their whole life, because it just leads to a feeling of being unfulfilled and being mentally exhausted.
On another note, authors behind the self-help genre are likely not even interested in helping people. Another interviewee, Phoebe Youmans-Miller, said, “You have to think about the motivation behind people that write those books, and it can become an addiction of sorts where you spend more and more money.” Many people who write self-help books aren’t qualified and haven’t done the proper research or studying to be a trustworthy source of help. The authors of self-help books and magazines are only in it for the buyer’s money, and they write those books in a way that leaves you wondering how else you can fix your life.
Sure, the self-help genre can be beneficial, and some books do truly have good advice. But the reality is that many of them don’t. If you do dive into the genre, you must be careful of what you listen to and if the author of the book is qualified to speak on the subject. There are some very good books out there that can help people become better, but to find those you need to think about if the advice is worth your time and if it will help you become a better person. And if it won’t, don’t bother.