Are you caught in the 'wellness trap'? When self-care backfires on mental health

India Today

19 hours ago

This weekend, 33-year-old Ritika Sharma, found herself crying in the kitchen. Not because something terrible had happened, but because she hadn't ticked off her elaborate self-care checklist: no smoothies, no 10k steps, no yoga sessions, no journaling. Just fatigue. And immense guilt.'I've built this routine around wellness,' she explains. But there are days when she can't keep up. "It feels like I've failed my body and mind. And that failure feels heavy on the mind.'advertisementToday, self-care is no longer restricted to being a health suggestion. Unfortunately, it has become a standard. Across Indian cities, young professionals, students, and teenagers are busy crafting (what they call) daily rituals involving cold-pressed juices, 5 a.m. rigorous exercises, gym sessions, skincare regimes, and multiple apps for mindfulness.
However, if you scratch that surface, a quiet contradiction is slowly taking shape. Practices that were at some point meant to nourish are now becoming performance-driven. In most cases, they end up being psychologically harmful.SELF-SURVEILLANCE OVER CARE Here, social media have a role to play. Scroll through Instagram or YouTube, and you'll find no shortage of content producers promoting 'miracle mornings,' detoxes, digital fasts, and 30-day glow-up challenges.'The problem is that these routines are often shared without context,' says Dr. Mithee Iyer, a Mumbai-based clinical psychologist who works with working professionals and college students. "These posts are aspirational, yes, but also extremely curated. People internalise them as benchmarks and when they don't match up, they feel like they've fallen short.'That sense of falling short isn't just disappointing, it can become dangerous too.According to Dr. Iyer, more Indian patients now report anxiety related to health and productivity habits that were initially meant to relieve stress. She explains the phenomena: 'We've started treating rest like something to earn. Even naps come with guilt. That's not self-care, that's surveillance of the self.'DIET AND DISCIPLINE SPIRALThe rise of the wellness industry in India has also reshaped the way people eat. Once-local staples like ghee, millets, or fermented rice are being replaced by almond flour, protein powders, and fancy superfoods.'This is a shift that isn't just rooted in cultural context but has psychological bearings,' says Dr. Ritika Khera, a Delhi-based clinical nutritionist and eating disorder specialist. 'Youngsters aren't just trying to eat healthily, they are trying desperately to control their lives via the food they consume. The problem is, when control slips, it can lead to panic.'Dr. Khera highlights the rising incidence of orthorexia — an unhealthy obsession with 'clean' eating. 'Orthorexia can be hard to diagnose because it hides behind the mask of health consciousness. But mentally, it can be as distressing as any eating disorder would lead to.' A 26% rise in orthorexia-like symptoms amongst college-going women in Tier-1 cities over a two-year period was cited in a recent study published by the Indian Journal of Health Psychology in 2023. advertisement'They think they're being disciplined,' Dr. Khera adds. 'But what they're really doing is punishing themselves for being human.'IS WELLNESS A GENDERED PRESSURE? For Indian women in particular, wellness often comes with added baggage. It's not just about staying healthy, it's about looking good, appearing balanced, and coping without complaint.'You're expected to glow through your period, meditate through burnout, and bounce back from childbirth within six weeks,' says Swathi R., a 29-year-old tech employee from Hyderabad. 'I used to love yoga, but the moment I started filming it for Instagram, it stopped being mine.'Terms like #HotGirlWalks and #GlowUpChallenge may sound empowering, but they often reinforce the very stereotypes they claim to challenge. They set the bar for 'good health' so high yet so narrow that most people are left feeling perpetually inadequate.CELEBS CALL OUT THE TREND India's biggest stars are not immune to the weight of wellness culture. Take superstar Deepika Padukone. Despite her discipline, the actor has spoken about battling depression and the disconnect between how she looked and how she felt. Sameera Reddy, who was once immersed in post-pregnancy image pressure, chose to ditch that ideal of perfection and embrace what she calls her 'messy mama' take. advertisementVirat Kohli, who is known for his athletic regime, also admitted that his strict clean-eating habits became mentally exhausting with time. Then there was actor Siddharth who offered perhaps the most honest critique: 'Yoga and kale juice are not mental health care. A salary is. Clean air is.'These stories reflect a vital truth: health isn't what it looks like from the outside.WHAT IS REAL WELLNESS? Experts say real wellness has little to do with perfection and everything to do with presence. "A walk without your phone, a laugh with friends, a nap without guilt. These are the things that truly restore us,' says Dr IyerBoth Dr. Khera and Dr. Iyer advocate for a return to simpler, more sustainable wellness grounded in Indian traditions that prioritise balance, community, and joy, not pressure.- Ends