I am sorry to read that Camilla Cavendish has a tennis injury (Opinion, FT Weekend, FT.com, April 5). I wish her a speedy recovery.
Sadly, I might never recover from the psychological trauma of reading her account of “wellness” interventions. Her excellent, profoundly disturbing piece is etched into my soul like a toxic stencil of rancid despair. Perhaps I need “ozone therapy” or “whole-body cryotherapy”?
Your headline warned readers that the quest for wellness “has its downsides”, but that was no preparation for what followed. “Bathing in cold plasma” when it is not medically indicated? I think not. I’ll give the “brain training” apps a miss, too, along with the gloriously ambiguous “party drips” — when did they ever add anything?
While some of these interventions have medical applications for small numbers of people, most “wellness” therapies hawked online, administered at “clinics”, or provided in remote spas are pure nonsense.
Yes, there can be psychological benefits if the “therapy” does not damage the body (some do) and the “therapist” is a reasonable person (some are). But there can be psychological harms, including the implicit message that we are not “well” enough (we are) and we need to be “better” (we don’t). Life is not a self-improvement project. Life is to be valued, lived, and loved.
For Cavendish’s injury, and many of life’s ailments, we need rest, gentle movement, and stoicism. Specific therapies are required at certain times, but we do not all need to be “better” all the time. Mostly, we are fine.
Brendan Kelly
Professor of Psychiatry
Trinity College Dublin
Dublin, Ireland
