The High-Achiever’s Scurvy: How Self-Deprivation is Quietly Destroying You

Introduction 

Self-deprivation and lack of self-care are two of the many common difficulties high-achievers like you face due to a developed mindset and tunnel vision on success in a desired field.

You likely often prohibit yourself from/neglect:

• Hanging out with friends or family 

• Feeling and processing emotions 

• Engaging in activities you want to do (watching TV, playing games, hanging out with others (as aforementioned))

• Disconnecting from work during free time/when with others

• Saying “no” to extra academic stressors

• Asking for help

• Sufficient sleep 

• Exercise, skincare, sufficient food or water, etc. 

What all of these self-deprivation issues have in common is that most—if not all—appear to be essential things for well-being. 

In other words, these are all activities that will lead you into serious mental health issues like depression, burnout, and heightened anxiety. 

You might also see refusing to be vulnerable as smart and reasonable because you are determined to stay on your desired path with no distractions. What you are blind to, though, is the fact that without one of the most important complexities of human life, you can lose yourself. In the future, if not soon, you will fail to form relationships, fail to be reliable, fail to feel, and fail to be a person. In this way, you could rob yourself of everything significant in your life besides the work aspect you decided to invest all of your time into—which would likely crumble as well. 

There is one fact that high-achievers universally accept: the danger and deadliness of diseases. 

But here’s the thing: self-deprivation is just as damaging. Its destructiveness is simply less visible to the naked eye. 

To help you envision this, let me explain how scurvy disease and self deprivation/lack of self care are reflections of each other. 

Scurvy: Background 

Scurvy is a nutritional deficiency disease caused by a lack of vitamin C. Scurvy was once an extremely common disease in the 16th-18th centuries; many sailors that led voyages overseas would acquire the disease due to paucity of access to nutritious foods. 

Although one might assume that the deficiency of solely one vitamin would induce minor symptoms and side effects, this is far from the truth for scurvy.

Notice the similarity to high-achievers’ habits & their effects?

Why is vitamin C deficiency so harmful? Because vitamin C is more essential than many would think. 

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, serves many purposes in the human body. To name a few:

• Vitamin C is the primary reducing agent required in the formation of collagen—a necessary connective tissue that essentially keeps the human body intact. 

• Vitamin C protects DNA from becoming mutated and undergoing carcinogenesis—the beginning of cancer formation.

• Vitamin C helps regulate iron within the body and maintain muscle tissue.

• Vitamin C is highly concentrated in the brain and adrenal gland as—aside from its function in tissue, cells, and muscle—it is an important aspect of neurotransmission and the formation of serotonin, dopamine, and neuropeptides.

So, one small vitamin that can easily be neglected aids our organic processes in an overwhelming number of ways. 

Another connection to the importance of self-care.  

Humans, unlike other species of animals, are incapable of producing their own vitamin C through glucose. Therefore, all of the vitamin C necessary for our bodies needs to be consumed through our diets. Once vitamin C levels drop sufficiently, symptoms of scurvy start to appear.

With that being said, the first objective signs of scurvy—in the disease’s first stage—are fatigue, pink eye, petechiae (tiny red spots on the skin caused by internal bleeding), bruises from internal bleeding, accumulation of fluid in tissues around joints, and bleeding within the muscle. Around stage two of scurvy, overgrowth of gum tissue causes bleeding and inflamed gums and coiled/spiral hairs called corkscrew hairs develop. In stage three, when vitamin C is entirely absent from the body, more severe symptoms including labored breathing and damage to nerves outside the brain and spinal cord emerge. In the final stage, a sepsis-like condition—when the body overreacts to an infection and consequently causes severe inflammation and organ damage—leads to death. 

Based on the aforementioned effects of scurvy, it is safe to say that the disease is very painful and deadly. Additionally, the lack of vitamin C and the severity of the disease’s symptoms in the human body clearly have a proportional relationship.

(A proportional relationship that sounds nearly parallel to that between self-deprivation and mental/physical health).

 But, ironically, the cure to this unimaginable disease is simple: vitamin C. And the disease improves so rapidly that after a few vitamin C intakes, several symptoms improve or disappear. 

An additional connection to this article’s topic.

Detailed Analogy

So, what's the big idea? 

I’ve hinted at scurvy's connections to self-deprivation throughout this article, but here’s a more detailed, thorough explanation of why an 18th-19th century disease is comparable to high-achievers’ self-deprivation and self-care issues:

Just as high-achievers can relentlessly prevent themselves from having fun, taking breaks, feeling/processing emotions, asking for help, and having sufficient self-care (adequate sleep, adequate water/food, etc.) while believing that they aren’t harming themselves, vitamin C can be effortlessly neglected by people who are oblivious of the ramifications of vitamin C deficiency. 

But, clearly, vitamin C is crucial. And although the average person might not know anything about vitamin C beyond its few well-known functions, he or she still takes vitamin C. Why? Because he/she learned it was important—whether it was from school or family.

Asking for help, processing emotions, taking breaks—all of the aforementioned actions and concepts are as essential in your life as vitamin C. When we neglect these actions and concepts, we harm ourselves like vitamin C deficiency harms the body. We attack ourselves like scurvy attacks our systems. And as our habits worsen, our bodies weaken.

High-achievers can be so blinded by the finish line that they forget to consider what some of the “obstacles” they are constantly pushing away are and how detrimental avoiding some of these “obstacles” can be to others and themselves. They can recognize the need to avoid breaking their leg or eating bad food—common sense, right? However, they fail to recognize the clear necessity to eliminate extreme self-deprivation. 

If you want to be successful, happy, and healthy—which almost every high-achiever wants—you need to realize and accept that excelling in academics and/or extracurriculars in addition to salubrious habits will make this desire a reality. It is not—and was never—a choice between the two. 

Altering your self-deprivation and self-care habits will take time and patience. However, once you commit to change for a long period of time, all will improve and—I promise—you will still perform in your areas of strength. 

Hopefully this analogy has made you see your self-deprivation in a different light and has driven you to improve your habits. 

Here is a specific 1 month (4 week) roadmap I’ve created to help you reach this goal of improvement that will barely change your schedule or compromise your work time while still being effective:

Week	Focus	Action Steps
Days 1–7: Awareness + Mini Breaks	Start noticing your deprivation habits	- Write down 1 time each day you deny yourself a break, fun, or care. - Once per day, take a 5-minute break (walk, music, deep breath). - Choose 1 night this week to sleep 30 minutes earlier than usual.
Days 8–14: Micro Self-Care Habits	Build small, repeatable habits	- Drink a full glass of water before starting schoolwork each day. - One social interaction this week (a very low stakes text, call, or quick convo). - 10-minute “non-work” activity daily (social media, gaming, journaling, etc). - Stretch for 2 minutes once a day.
Days 15–21: Emotional Check-ins	Let yourself feel without guilt	- At least once per day, pause and ask: “What am I feeling right now?”Write down your answer (just 1 sentence, don’t overthink it). - Share one struggle with someone you trust (friend, sibling, etc.) - Say “no” to at least one thing this week you don’t have capacity for (extra project, meeting, etc.).
Days 22–28: Rebuild Your Baseline	Normalize care as part of success	- Pick 1 bigger social event or fun activity you usually avoid and commit to going. - Commit to 3 days of at least 7 hours of sleep this week. - Choose 1 recurring self-care action you enjoyed (water, journaling, breaks, etc.) and make it your new non-negotiable daily habit. - Reflect: Write a short journal entry (3-5 sentences, don’t overthink it) on how these changes affected your energy, focus, and happiness.

Remember: success goes hand in hand with allowing yourself to take breaks and take care of yourself.

And the next time you prohibit yourself excessively or disregard self-care, think about what you are doing to your body, your brain, and your mental health; You are creating your own growing, malicious, and deadly version of scurvy.