When Wellness Becomes Fashion

What happens when we treat health initiatives like just another trend?

First, a note on my recent LA Times feature:

I dug into the social wellness trend for the LA Times, profiling startups selling in-person support groups. Basically, imagine AA without the addiction—where people get together to share their feelings and concerns about, well, anything. SoulCycle’ co-founders, for example, launched Peoplehood—“a connection product”—after studying “religion, fitness and … speaking with psychologists, spiritual leaders, doctors and professors.”

So how should we feel about companies monetizing social and emotional support? (And will consumers go for it?) 

Well, it’s complicated.

Such options might be the next best thing for some individuals. Still, one could argue it’s simply treating the symptoms instead of targeting the root issues of America’s “friendship recession.” Or as my husband put it, “The things we used to get for free just by existing are now being sold to us … If capitalism is the cause of the loneliness epidemic, how do we feel about it trying to be…