‘Betterment burnout’ is making us miserable – having fun is crucial too

January is the strangest month of the year, a month when nobody does what they want to do. “I don’t understand, I’ve been doing everything in my power to feel good,” I blurted out to a friend one morning, through hot, frustrated tears. “Self-control isn’t a bad thing, but if we don’t factor in social interaction, pleasure and enjoyment, our thinking quickly becomes very skewed,” she says. “Anyone prone to perfectionism or anxiety can find an extreme regime initially comforting and rewarding, because you’re creating a system in your mind where if you do A, you gain B. It’s about feeling in control of a threatening situation.” Today we’re continually told that eliminating things – late nights, wheat, sugar, dairy, alcohol, caffeine – is automatically a good thing. I’d just rather mark the start of a new year by adding positive things to my life as well, rather than feeling that I am depriving myself of things that have been labelled “bad”.