Can Too Much Wellness Make You Sick?

Sometimes, you just gotta roll with it…

orphing beyond organising charity events and local youth gigs around Greystones, five years ago Andrea Splendori took Social Fabric to the airwaves…

Doing pretty much what it says on the thing, the idea was to talk to as many different people from as many different backgrounds and experiences as possible so Andrea could build up a picture of the world we live in right here, right now.

From psychologists to musicians, from athletes to atheists, all human life was invited to pull up a chair. And some of them even made it to The Whale stage, as Social Fabric moved into the live arena.

Which is where we’ll find Andrea on March 6th, as he discusses the mildly overwhelming world of wellness with Newstalk’s Clare McKenna and psychologist, broadcaster and author Allison Keating. And where better to discuss such a subject than in Pleasantville?

So, we asked the man himself to give us his take on all the town’s great big feelgood factory…

Wellness culture is all around us, and 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 an uplifting and enjoyable experience 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. Now, take 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; it’s the highlights, the greatest hits, the best of…

Which means that 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 are not always 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 it 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 are ‘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 a number of years now, and it’s a pretty nice place. Not that I’m recommending it though. I don’t want to add to your long to do list.

Instead, find your own zone, and see if it works for you…

Andrea Splendori’s Social Fabric Podcast discussion Wellness Overwhelm is at The Whale on March 6th 2025 with special guests Clare McKenna (Newstalk, TedX) and Allison Keating (psychologist, broadcaster and author), tickets here.