Leading academics Carl Cederström, André Spicer and Renata Salecl gather to explore how wellness has become an unhealthy obsession in western societies, and how living ‘well’ has become synonymous with being morally good.
They will argue that visions of social change have been reduced to dreams of individual transformation, and political debate has been replaced by insipid moralising. By moving from the welfare state to the ‘wellness state’, we undergo a shift in wellbeing as a collective responsibility toward it being an individual choice spearheaded by corporations. And paradoxically, we end up more anxious and unwell as a result.
Not exercising as much as you should? Counting your calories in your sleep? Feeling ashamed for not being happier? You may be a victim of the wellness syndrome.
In this ground–breaking new book, Carl Cederström and André Spicer argue that the ever–present pressure to maximize our wellness has started to work against us, making us feel worse and provoking us to withdraw into ourselves. The Wellness Syndrome follows health freaks who go to extremes to find the perfect diet, corporate athletes who start the day with a dance party, and the self–trackers who monitor everything, including their own toilet habits. This is a world where feeling good has become indistinguishable from being good. Visions of social change have been reduced to dreams of individual transformation, political debate has been replaced by insipid moralising, and scientific evidence has been traded for new–age delusions. A lively and humorous diagnosis of the cult of wellness, this book is an indispensable guide for everyone suspicious of our relentless quest to be happier and healthier.
