Good read. Most often it’s hard for me to exercise empathy with people falling for the stupidest goop shit out there, but looking at the problem seriously it’s yet another societal construct that disproportionally affects the marginalized.
It’s one thing to waste time and money on crooks when you’ve got plenty of both, it’s another to flaunt this as a good idea and entice the masses to choose this over real medicine.
Often times stress is at the heart of many of these problems and self care can provide solutions. Simply believing that something will work (placebo effect) can be enough to solve many problems. In many cases these therapies are secretly outlets for various forms of therapy and we know well that improving mental health improves many symptoms. I think the article does a good job pointing out that there are many snake oil salesmen out there, peddling often stolen goods (non-western medicine has been around for ages and with enough jargon and basis in the actual traditional medicines, it’s easy to mislead someone with no experience) at a demographic that is searching for answers when they are being dismissed and discounted by existing systems.
Ultimately its a question of balance - these medicines can be good, and in fact many of them are rooted in a scientific process of sorts (anecdotal evidence passed down among healers for hundreds or thousands of years, often including a good deal of experimentation). Traditional medicine should not be so easily discounted as less than western medicine, or unable to provide relief and results for many people. However, just as in western medicine, there are those who would take advantage of the system to proselytize their own beliefs or to make a quick buck off others. We need to be cautious, as with all medicine, and we need to listen to our own bodies. When western medicine fails to come up with a diagnosis or prognosis, traditional medicine may offer relief. The same is true for those who prefer traditional medicine. Traditional and western medicine should both be seen as tools - a hammer won’t solve every problem and nor will a screw driver, and we need to be able to recognize when treatments are working or not, and when to seek knowledge elsewhere and when to realize that we may be dealing with a problem which needs a different tool.
*also applies to men
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Once I glanced up from the narrow list of hospital-affiliated physicians at least partially covered by my insurance, I found a world of solutions waiting in the form of functional medicine, somatic therapies, boutique institutes and diet coaches.
From these sources, I learned I suffered from toxic inflammation, histamine intolerance, mold exposure, sensitivities to chicken, clams and chocolate, dormant Lyme disease, heavy metal poisoning, motherhood, hidden but newly awakened traumas, over-stress, under-sleep and nutrient deficits.
Even the best laid plan of diet, exercise and sobriety will dictate only a small portion of health outcomes, because it simply pales in comparison to systemic factors, including the spillage of work into all waking hours, the orange haze that consumes the skies, and the lopsided hazards and opportunities that hew to how much you earn, or the color of your skin.
Joining a union would arguably deliver greater benefit than downloading another meditation app, but the wellness market presents the latter as a logical solution to work-related stress and deteriorating mental health.
From social media and magazines at the check-out line to the emails lobbed from HR, we’re bombarded with messages that enjoin us to “take care”, to honor our wellbeing, but also to use “hacks” to boost our languishing productivity and mood.
Personally, and I say this as someone who has the privilege and suffers a desperation sufficient to throw thousands of dollars toward illusory cures, I have benefited from a loss of faith in what the industry has to offer, and a renewed conviction that the fix lies often beyond ourselves.
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