ture. “It was then,” he says, “that people began to
believe that the only way to be happy was to take
ownership and responsibility for your own life.”
Wellness became linked to the idea that you can
refashion yourself and be successful simply by
signing up for a gym membership, a self-improve-
ment course, a diet plan, or a yoga retreat —
anything that promises better health, a better out-
look, a better life. “The self-help idea is strong in
wellness culture and is especially attractive in
times of hopelessness,” Cederström says. “And
that’s true now more than ever, when the institu-
tions we normally draw streng th from, like poli-
tics, relig ion, even fa mi ly a nd work, feel less stable
than they did in the past.”
As wellness culture grew, being healthy sud-
denly wasn’t good enough. Back in her 20s, Dr.
Jennifer Gunter says she would have defined
“wellness” as “health.” Not anymore. “Then it was
the idea of, ‘Are you well?’ and ‘Why yes, yes I am
in good health, thank you for asking,’” says the
outspoken OB/GYN and author of The Vagina
Bible whose personal blog has become a one-
woman crusade against insidious Internet health
content. Now 51, Dr. Gunter says she no longer
equates wellness with health. “Today ‘wellness’
means a display of disposable income, or a compe-
tition, or a certain number of likes on Instagram,
which is the very opposite of health.”
Somehow, Dr. Gunter says the idea of eating
healthy or the joy of going for a walk became cor-
rupted. “I get a pedicure for my personal wellness
because I enjoy the look of nice toenails, but I don’t
kid myself that it’s doing anything medical,” she
says. “I often wonder why people no longer do
t h i ngs because t hey li ke t hem — it a lways ha s to be
couched as some kind of personal growth moment
or tainted by a fake health claim.”
IT PAYS TO BE WELL
By the ’90s, those “personal growth moments”
were already becoming big business. Eventually
corporations caught on and soon, Cederström
says, “wellness speak” began slipping into com-
pany mission statements. It was then that the
idea of fixing whatever ailed you with the power
of “positive thinking ” and “developing your full
potential” went from slogans on gym walls to slo-
gans on coffee mugs in office cubicles.
“The wellness movement is now fully inte-
grated into capitalism,” Cederström says. “To be
fit is to be the best version of yourself, and better
health is equated with being productive and hav-
ing greater success.” At least, for those who can
afford it. Today, wellness has the same element of
exclusivity as a high-end spa, and it’s a luxury
only available to a select segment of the popula-
tion. According to the Global Wellness Institute,
the global wellness market grew 10.6 percent to
$3.7 trillion from 2013 to 2015. (Meanwhile, the
global economy shrank 3.6 percent over the same
period.) Yes, there is wealth in wellness.
“I think the wellness movement is nothing
more than a cash grab,” Dr. Gunter says. “It isn’t
telling people to go for more walks, it’s presented
as impossibly beautiful people doing impossible
things.” Then there’s the extent to which the
movement demonizes those who aren’t part of it,
Cederström adds. “There is an individualistic
notion attached to wellness that’s aligned with
ruthless capitalist ideals,” he says. “We’re all
competing in an open market, and it’s up to each
of us to t h r ive under t hese conditions.” Inev itably,
he says, our preoccupation with succeeding at
wellness creates anxiety and guilt because well-
ness is an impossible goal — every day there are
new products, therapies and regimens that prom-
ise even better results than yesterday’s products,
therapies and regimens. “It creates an impossible
demand that reconfigures the way we live our
lives.”
And society quietly punishes those who fail to
live up to the ideals of wellness culture from the
start. “Where does our preoccupation with our
own wellness leave the rest of the population who
have an acute shortage of organic smoothies, diet
apps and yoga instructors?” Cederström writes
in The Wellness Syndrome. When I ask him to
elaborate, he uses exercise as an example: “We
think of those who don’t exercise as lesser people.
I happen to exercise a nd I enjoy it, but that doesn’t
make me a better human being.” He says those
who can’t afford to be onboard (or simply choose
not to be) are perceived as lazy, unmotivated or
“wea k-willed.” In wellness, nobody wins — except
for the people selling wellness.WHERE DOES WELLNESS
GO FROM HERE?
In an article for NBC, Caulfield writes about wag-
ing “a wellness war,” while Cederström is ada-
mant that we need to do whatever it takes toWELLNESS WINS
best health AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2019 43