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Are there any long-term effects of obedience on an individual's mental health?

Nestor Stileman

Well, there's certainly a lot of research out there that suggests that obedience can have a major impact on a person's mental health in the long run. A lot of this research comes from the famous Milgram experiments, where participants were asked to administer electric shocks to someone else in the name of science.

Now, obviously, the shocks weren't real - but the participants didn't know that. And what's really interesting is that even when the "victim" was screaming in agony and begging the participant to stop, the vast majority of them kept pressing the button. Why? Because they were told to.

So what does this all have to do with mental health? Well, for starters, it can create a tremendous amount of stress and guilt. Participants in the Milgram experiments reported feeling "shaken," "upset," and "regretful" afterwards, and some even experienced physical symptoms like trembling and sweating.

But it's not just these specific experiments that suggest obedience can be harmful. There are plenty of examples throughout history of people following orders that led to terrible outcomes - think concentration camps, genocide, or even just bullying in school. And while we might like to think that we wouldn't fall prey to these kinds of situations, the research suggests that we might be more susceptible than we think.

Of course, there are also plenty of counter-examples - people who have stood up to authority and made a real difference in the world. But when it comes to mental health, it's important to be aware of the potential risks of blindly following orders - and to make sure that we're not sacrificing our well-being for the sake of pleasing others.