When Pride Is an Illness

Excessive pride is an illness, and it might be camouflaging deeper problems that can affect your body physically if you don't resolve them properly. Keep reading to find out more.
When Pride Is an Illness

Last update: 27 May, 2022

Do you know what pride is? It’s a feeling of esteem and admiration you may have towards yourself that makes you believe that you’re better than other people. In this article, we’ll show you why pride is an illness.

Surely, you’ve met someone before that you’d describe as being “proud.” This person probably didn’t seem happier or felt good thinking s/he’s better than others. On the other hand, s/he probably seemed constantly stressed out and anxious. However, you’ll only notice that if you pay close attention.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the unhealthy side of pride.

Stress that Comes with Pride

Pride is an illness because it negatively impacts you.

Being proud doesn’t necessarily make people feel good. Although they try to be better than others, the truth is that behind a mask of pride, they have very low self-esteem. This causes people to:

  • Compare themselves with others. That way, nobody takes away their position of being better than or superior to others. They’re always alert, comparing themselves with other people to reaffirm themselvesin what they believe.
  • Hide their insecurity. Through pride, people hide the true insecurities they have. In reality, although they act like they’re superior to others, they actually feel inferior deep down inside.
  • Let anxiety overcome them. The stress that comes with pride comes from the need to always be the center of attention. Additionally, they might be very demanding with themselves to stand out and be above others.

As you can see, although proud people might seem better than others, this isn’t actually the case. Underneath this attitude is a very fragile person who has probably gone through a lot of pain.

Don’t miss out: How to Manage Stress Properly

Pride Is an Illness: The Problems of People Who Live with It

Next, we’ll find out the problems people face that suffer from pride. As you can see, these types of people aren’t happy. Now, we’re going to dig deeper to find out why.

People with excessive pride are:

  • Unable to admire others: Through admiring others, you can strive to achieve more realistic goals. On the other hand, wanting to be better than others leads you to constantly compare yourself to others. No matter what you do, however, there will always be someone “better” out there to compare yourself to.
  • Don’t know how to listen: They’re often so eager to be the center of attention that it prevents them from listening to others. Therefore, this causes conflicts in their relationships because the people around them think that they only talk about themselves.
  • Unable to act without demonstrating their worth: They’re always trying to prove themselves, so they don’t relax or enjoy a single moment. Therefore, this prevents them from being happy with what they do, which is quite harmful.

Pride Is an Illness Because it Causes Very Deep Problems

Lots of people who suffer from pride are hiding something that hurts them. Therefore, pride is an illness. When they do this, instead of solving their problems, they hide them. In fact, this makes their problems worse.

Pride is an illness because is can get worse over time.

People with pride may ignore a problem for many years by camouflaging it with pride. This makes it even worse, and makes them feel even more unhappy than they already are.

Even if people proudly keep this attitude for a long time, at the end of the day, pride is an illness. Migraines, dizziness, and stomach aches are all indicators that something needs to change. This is what’s called somatization of emotions.

Pride isn’t something that has no solution. However, in order to fix it, you have to know what to look for. Then, you can help resolve the underlying cause of pride and seek help if you need it.

Have you met someone that’s very proud? Have you used pride to hide an insecurity that you feel?

Pride is an illness, and it even has physical symptoms that have a deep origin. Your inner well-being, healthy sense of self esteem, tranquility and peace all have a huge impact on your health.


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This text is provided for informational purposes only and does not replace consultation with a professional. If in doubt, consult your specialist.