The Wellness Industry Created Winter Depression

The depths of winter air fill our lungs and our hearts, leaving us with nothing but scrolling. Scrolling in our camera rolls back to summer, scrolling through Instagram and Tiktok just to see all the other girls with their “hacks” to get through this winter. The self-deprecation final boss is that of comparison, and she slips through all the cracks during wintertime.

It’s the first two months of the year, we haven’t seen the sun in months, spirits are low. We all had weird run-ins with people in our hometown over winter break, all we want is that Turks and Caicos vacation, we keep seeing from that one influencer you only know by face, but not their name. We see years wrapped by influencers, telling us how incredible their last year was, and how grateful they are for all their new opportunities. You think to yourself, I wish I was them.

Feeling inspired, you stay on your phone and continue to scroll, just to see the same influencer wearing an infrared face mask. The next girl is telling you that you have to absolutely buy an ice bath. The next one tells you to take a spa day at Bathhouse. The next one tells you to get mushroom coffee because for some reason that won't make you have anxiety.

There you are, lying in bed with your phone five inches from your face, six different tabs open, and considering purchasing absolute blasphemous tools because we have a promise that it'll make us feel better. The wellness industry preys on us when we’re weak. It's okay to admit a New York City winter is hard. It's okay to be depressed and not want to leave your apartment, because it's so incredibly hard to do anything when the sidewalks are ice and mountains of snow are surrounding you.

Buy that red light face mask if you really want it, but it won’t cure your seasonal depression. What can help your sadness is creating small parts of your routine that will guarantee happiness. I have a coffee and play wordle every morning on my couch. Sometimes the day feels scary after that, but at least it got me out of bed, and I feel inspired for a few minutes. Sit on your floor and stretch. Make a cup of tea before you get in the shower at night, so it's ready for you when you get out. Light a candle. Make yourself look pretty because looking good is feeling good—and you are allowed to reverse engineer this idea.

It's really easy to give up. We are plants; we require sunlight, nutrition and love. The beginning of the year is a really difficult time to receive these things we need to become proper plants. So, we must manually create happiness with small parts of our everyday routine. Get off the internet. Stop looking at people that act like they’re happy to sell you a red-light face mask. They're getting paid to sell it, and they don’t know what it does either.

Be conscious about what in your life is a negative feedback loop. The wellness industry was likely created by winter, and the things people will do during the pits of their sadness to feel better. You are not in this alone, just remember that you don't have to be a victim to new items on the market that promise to help you.