Wellness Overwhelm
- Andrea Splendori
- Feb 27
- 3 min read
Wellness Overwhelm: When Well-Meaning Health Messages Spiral Into Something Unhealthy
Wellness culture is all around us, we often see messages encouraging us to focus on health, fitness, and self-care. From social media influencers sharing the latest “superfood” to fitness trackers making exercise feel more like a fun challenge, the pursuit of wellness has become a key part of our daily lives. While these messages generally come from a good place, they can sometimes become overwhelming, leading to “wellness overload.” An abundance of health advice that makes us feel stressed, guilty, or anxious, which can ironically take away from the well-being that we are meant to pursue.
The Constant Pursuit of Wellness is making what should be uplifting and enjoyable a stressful event.
At its core, wellness overwhelm comes from data overload and unrealistic expectations. The internet and social media platforms provide an endless stream of health-related content, much of which is contradictory and a lot of the times not even proven – scientifically or otherwise. One week, carbohydrates are demonised; the next, they’re essential, 10,000 steps a day and five litres of water – or is it 10,000 litres of water and 5 steps?.
It gets very noisy and hard for any individual to discern which advice is credible and relevant to their unique needs.
This is data, masked as information, that we believe to be knowledge.
The multibillion wellness industry is creating a culture that often sets unattainable standards. The images of “perfect health” portrayed by influencers and celebrities—sipping green juices or practising sunrise yoga—can create an illusion that health is not just about feeling good but also looking a certain way and living in a certain way. The constant comparison fosters feelings of inadequacy as individuals measure their routines and outcomes against curated versions of reality.
What we see online is not always reality, is the highlights, the greatest hits, the best of…
Trying to create curated content online, can in itself be a stressful job.
Wellness overwhelm can have some unintended side effects and consequences that exacerbate behaviours that not always are helping us, making us a bit more anxious and self-conscious than perhaps we ought to be.
In turn, it can increase the feeling of stress and the cycle continues and at times can spiral out of control.
The same goes for how the constant flow of data into our devices can push us physically, with extreme diets, fasting routines, unproven supplements and binary choices on whether to be or not to be….(vegan, paleo, pescatarian, flexitarian, whatever-you-are-having-yourself this month…).
All of this can prove harmful if not researched properly and truly understand what works for us and our body.
We are all unique, a unique cluster of atoms and molecules and we all react differently to different things.
But don’t take my word for it.
Do your own research.
The current world that connects us all in so many different ways, is also creating a major disconnect that leads us to search for exclusive wellness retreats to reconnect with ourselves and others.
A fantastic thing to do, but like everything else, understanding what is that brings us there in the first place could be just as healthy as attending the retreat.
To address the wellness overwhelm there is a need for a shift in mindset and approach.
It is important to cultivate critical thinking, question the credibility of the health message, prioritise evidence-based advice, and most importantly, embrace balance and intuition.
Health does not have to be an all-or-nothing pursuit. Allowing room for flexibility and focusing on what genuinely feels good for us, not for what we see around us, can alleviate the pressure.
Colm Noctor in his book, “The 4 to 7 Zone”, talks about how we “almost always functioning and rating ourselves in the 1–3 or 8–10 zones.”
This constant search for highs inevitably brings us some hard-to-deal-with lows.
I am no expert, but I have been living in the 4 to 7 zone for several years now, and it’s a pretty nice place.
I wouldn’t recommend though. I don’t want to add to the long list of things to do.
Find your own zone and see if it works for you.
Social Fabric Podcast The Whale Theatre
Wellness Overwhelm
6th March 2025
With guests Clare McKenna (Newstalk, TedX) and Allison Keating (psychologist, broadcaster and author)
Tickets
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