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‘We’re sedating women with self-care’: how we became obsessed with wellness | Well actually | The Guardian

theguardian.com · 2,565 words · saved by 1 readers

The industry claims to offer answers for all our stress and symptoms – but we ‘still lack the fundamentals of wellbeing’. How did this happen? O ne afternoon five years ago, my face swelled up like a helium balloon. My lips became tire-like, so thick I could no longer speak. At the ER, after deflating me with a cocktail of epinephrine, a steroid and an antihistamine, the doctors scolded me for not coming in more quickly: I could have died of asphyxiation. It was a bizarre episode, unrelated to any discernible exposure, but it wasn’t isolated. In the time since, mounds have formed beneath my skin and ping-ponged up and down my limbs. Golf ball-sized lumps appear on my wrists, grapefruit on my hips. My fingers fatten into sausages; my labia distend. I’ve grown accustomed to bailing on dinners, bowing out of meetings, postponing travel. My kids try to mask their horror by making light of it, puffing up their cheeks, just like “mommy’s monster face”. It’s hard to find help for a condition

‘Wellness offers some sort of salvation on the horizon.’ Illustration: Maria Medem/The Guardian The industry claims to offer answers for all our stress and symptoms – but we ‘still lack the fundamentals of wellbeing’. How did this happen? ‘Wellness’ makes you feel bad. Our new section focuses on living a good life By Katherine Rowland Wed 1 Nov 2023 07.00 EDT Last modified on Tue 27 Feb 2024 13.47 EST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google O ne afternoon five years ago, my face swelled up like a helium balloon. My lips became tire-like, so thick I could no longer speak. At the ER, after deflating

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