Where Parents Talk radio host Lianne Castelino speaks to Jennifer Breheny Wallace, award-winning journalist, contributor (Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post), author and mother of 3 about overcoming toxic achievement culture and mattering.
JENNIFER BREHENY WALLACE
Award-winning journalist (formerly with 60 Minutes)
Contributor (Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post)
Author, Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It.
Mother of 3
“If your kids are going to a competitive school, you live in a competitive community, those values of achievement, of materialism of external rewards, those are going to be activated. And what this research and other research finds is that that is heavily linked with negative mental health outcomes. People who who are overly consumed with what he calls materialistic values, not just logos, but career status, salary status, they are more likely to suffer from anxiety, depression and have a substance abuse disorder than people who live their lives pursuing more intrinsic values — and that means being a caring member of the family, being a caring member of society, caring about the greater good, caring about things other than your own self enhancement.”
