The evolution of success and how it has deeply impacted the mental health sphere

2026 marks a time when the definition of success has perpetually evolved from its
homogenous state. We live in an age where success is a more versatile term and can be
applied beyond traditional achievements, like wealth and academic achievements. While
this does present a clearer path to a more inclusive environment, it does complicate
society’s understanding of mental health issues by broadening ideas around achievement.
Beneath the appearance of simply coping with the pressure of their chosen field, some are
experiencing serious mental health issues that often go unnoticed. This essay aims to
discuss how the idea of success has been forced to adapt to fit current parameters, and
how this is deeply connected to the perception and navigation of mental health issues.
For most of the history of humanity, success was not seen as a concept, but rather as a
condition. The primitive mindset was simple, with the only true goal of survival. Likewise,
the abstraction of success was simplistic - if you and those around you had sufficient
resources, you were successful. Being stripped back to such a minimalistic state and
having relatively simple social structures, it left no room for ambition, hierarchy, or even
comparison, which are the main drivers for success in the common era.
Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism suggests that materialistic and economic
conditions, like technology and labour availability, are the main drivers for societal change.
It also suggests that societal evolution is only possible when there is a contradiction or
conflict with its environment. In this case, it was the introduction of industrial machinery. It
shifted society’s holistic understanding of achievement from simply surviving to
accumulating wealth and physical assets. This formed a societal hierarchy that created a
measurable scale of comparison. As self-worth became closely linked to accumulated
wealth, it contributed to a plethora of well-being issues, with concerns linked to status,
wealth, and self-esteem.
Another change in the collective environment was the addition of social media and the
internet. When these were introduced and popularized, they surfaced more unique
opportunities for those stuck in the corporate world to work remotely. This idea was
accelerated during the recent pandemic, COVID-19. This meant that they had more time to
pursue their individual fulfillments without financial burden. Success became a more
tailored concept, which encompassed other values beyond wealth, like cultural/ religious
practices and progress in hobbies, as people can spend more time on what they enjoy.
Though this did celebrate more unique achievements, it also did increase the scale of
comparison once more, as when consuming content you are often only seeing an

individual’s ‘highlight reel’. This created an expectation to live a flawless life and act like
those whom you are watching all the time, even though this goal is almost unattainable.
How does the reshaping of the definitions of success affect how mental health issues are
navigated and perceived? Leon Festinger’s Social Comparison theory explains that when
an objective benchmark or standard isn’t established or available, we naturally evaluate
and compare ourselves to those around us, downwardly and upwardly. Since success and
achievement has become such a broad area, they have very few objective standards,
which makes social comparison inevitable at times. Individuals are assessed as a whole,
not solely on materialistic or financial assets. This very often leads to self-esteem issues.
The contemporary definition of success has also made fostering empathy much more
difficult. Though feelings of stress and self-doubt are universal, they may look different
depending on what hobbies or practices you surround yourself with. Personally, as
someone who partakes in more academically centered activities, I find it harder to
communicate my struggles to someone who does not share the same activities. This is
because there is a subconscious expectation that those struggles are normal given my
environment. This can also lead to larger, inadvertent issues because some individuals
may feel that they must delve into their issues solo.
Ultimately, success is a multifaceted concept that is forever changing and evolving, and
could look extremely different in the years to come. It started as a fundamental condition
for survival, but through major tangible breakthroughs that contradict our environment as
we know it - like industrial machinery and the internet- it has turned into a driving factor for
how we view individuals. It is hard to predict what achievement will be defined as in the
future, as that requires a major objective conflict. Recognising that success is
ever-changing is the first step to solving the mental health dilemma. We need to realise
that we must adapt too, and not give in to comparison, even if that is what we naturally do.
Only then can society move toward a definition of success that truly supports both
achievement and the psychological well-being aspect that lies beneath it.