How Should We Think About Wellness Culture Now? with Christy Harrison
Welcome to our third episode in our series where we’re featuring guest experts as we delve into complex, sticky, and undefinable conversations that are top of mind.
Today we’re joined by Christy Harrison to discuss the state of the wellness industry, and muse on how we might think about “being in the industry, but not of it”.
Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified intuitive eating counselor, journalist, and author of THE WELLNESS TRAP, ANTI-DIET, as well as the producer and host of the podcasts Food Psych and Rethinking Wellness.
Pre-order Christy’s incredibly powerful read, THE WELLNESS TRAP now!
“I’ve also had such difficult disappointing experiences in conventional healthcare, and I think that combined with my dogged, wanna-know-everything-about-everything, slightly type A personality, I think just made me such a target for wellness culture interventions that were not supported by good evidence and were not effective for me and generally are not effective for many people.”
“I think the industry is certainly very problematic and the culture of wellness is extremely problematic, and there are things in it that are useful to people or that people might find fun or interesting or kind of a hobby.”
“Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.”
“There’s certainly room to exist within wellness culture and use some of the products and services and practices in way that can be useful or fun. But I think it’s important to always check in with ourselves around, how it is actually functioning in my life right now?”
“Maybe it’s true that individuals need to go on this journey of approaching stuff in an extreme way and then dialing back and seeing what really works for them. But I think that we’re prevented from really even doing that by these algorithms that keep driving us toward the more extremes.”
“I’ve seen so many people who are such skeptical people and so naturally curious and want to dig and get to the bottom of things and will do that in reference to conventional medicine and all the issues that we’ve talked about with it. And yet, not do that for the wellness industry and things that are reported as “natural.””
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Pocket Casts, or RadioPublic
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Covered in this Episode:
Christy's identity as a book author
In what way does the distinctiveness and comprehensiveness of Christy's latest book set it apart from her initial work?
Some of the chronic health issues that Christy experienced
Recovering from the postpartum period
Infusing enjoyment into the wellness culture
When a certain aspect of wellness can have beneficial effects but also potentially result in other negative consequences
The influence of Christy's childhood and early adulthood traumas on her ability to trust herself
The connection between our perceptions of fitness and diet culture and their association with morality and virtuousness
The ideal formula for being indoctrinated into diverse belief systems
The conspiracy theory surrounding the COVID vaccine
Traditional healthcare that fails to comprehend women's pain, certain symptoms, or the correlation between different health issues, causing patients to feel like their condition is psychosomatic
The belief that pursuing a wellness-oriented lifestyle resulted in a misdiagnosis that could have potentially led to fatal outcomes
Self-blame and self-criticism for the negative occurrences in our lives, and the tendency to hold ourselves solely accountable for our thoughts and beliefs