In Nick Bantock's The Museum at Purgatory, various afterlife dystopias are intended to be beneficial for the souls sent there, by "forcibly discouraging indulgence and foppery." In one of John Le Carre's Smiley novels, operating under "Moscow rules" means working under the strictest level of discipline, as a Western spy going undercover there obviously had to be very careful.

This strikes me as a good thing, and a good story. Boot camp drill seargeants, or Zen monk training. And I do love bildungsromans. What would be the word for it? Eudystopia? A setting that by its nature made you harder, faster, stronger, smarter, better. Doesn't have to be threatening or fatal.