“I found a place where I can love my black heart”
From “Ghosts In The Machine” by Bush
On this week’s episode of The Hardcore Humanism Podcast we talked with Gavin Rossdale — founding member, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the rock band Bush. Bush had a huge debut album back in 1994 Sixteen Stone, with hit songs like “Comedown,” “Glycerine,” “Machinehead” and of course my personal favorite “Everything Zen.” And now over 25 years later Bush is still rocking with their eighth studio album The Kingdom which just debuted at number one of Billboard’s hard rock charts. And one of the themes of The Kingdom is how we understand and cope with judgment.
The harmful effects of excessive negative judgment of others (i.e., criticism) has been well-documented in clinical literature. Overall, the theory is that when we harshly judge others, we create an inherently toxic rather than constructive environment that can be harmful to those on the receiving end of the criticism. The classic example is if a child receives a 97 on a test and the parent only focuses on “the other three points,” the child will focus on perceived failure, feel badly about their performance, and will over time feel worse about themselves as a person and their hopes for future success. For example, Expressed Emotion (EE) theory posits that the presence of toxic family interactions — which include excessive criticism – can predict relapse among an individual suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression. One meta-analytic review of 27 studies found that EE was a robust predictor of relapse among individuals with mental illness, particularly schizophrenia.
One of the ways that judgmental or critical interactions may impact our mental health is that we internalize and adopt the same judgmental thinking in our own self-concept. In more intense cases, repeated criticism of isolated incidents could result in a more generalized shame and poor self-concept. The result is that the negative thinking induces negative mood and possibly triggers more full-blown depressive episodes. For example, one study of 194 participants found that increased levels of self-criticism were associated with higher levels of depression symptoms.
The presence of this internalized self-criticism in an individual may be so powerful that it could undermine the efficacy of treatment. One possible reason is that severe self-criticism or negative judgment may make it hard to believe that change is possible and difficult to connect with a practitioner trying to implement change. As a result, treating self-criticism in patients with depression may be crucial for improved treatment outcomes. For example, one study examined how self-criticism at admission, discharge, and both 3- and 12-month follow up predicted improvement in depressive symptoms. Results indicated that reduction in self-criticism during hospital treatment predicted both initial and sustained improvement.
And yet despite the demonstrable toxic effects of harsh judgment and criticism, it is still necessary to find ways to assess and gather information about our lives, our thinking and behavior to improve personal, professional, and social outcomes. This way, in the event of scoring 97% on a test, we can acknowledge that the score is in theory a good grade while learning from the mistakes made in a supportive and constructive context thereby continuing to grow in a particular subject. During our conversation, Rossdale discusses his approach to balancing more constructive rather than toxic judgment in his life and career. I hope you find the discussion inspiring and helpful as you navigate your own approach to assessing your life and surroundings.
