Wellness Through a Collective Lens

Isabel Duggan (2022)

After graduating in 2022, former School Captain, Isabel Duggan embarked on a double degree in Science and Global Studies at Monash University, aiming to bridge analytical and social perspectives. Over time, her focus shifted entirely to Global Studies, opening up opportunities to examine how global systems shape communities and identities. Study tours in Mumbai and Malaysian Borneo deepened this interest, while a sociology research unit sparked a project on digital wellness culture, the routines and self-optimisation trends dominating social media.

That research culminated in her article, The Solitude of Self-Care, published by Cheek Media. In it, Isabel interrogates the paradox of modern wellness culture: how its inward gaze, marketed as empowerment, may be eroding collective resilience and reshaping the way we engage with society. Her work invites readers to consider whether the pursuit of personal wellbeing comes at the expense of shared strength.

For Isabel, writing is more than commentary, it is a way to stay connected to her curiosity about how people make sense of the world. In this piece, Isabel examines the paradox of modern wellness culture, questioning how its inward focus may be undermining collective resilience and shaping the way we engage with society.

Isabel begins by acknowledging a universal reality: “In this era of late-stage capitalism, we are united in our shared experiences of burn out and existential despair.” Yet, she argues, the individual pursuit of wellness has shifted focus away from communal healing and progress. Through her analysis, Isabel questions whether the digital age’s obsession with curated self-care rituals is fostering isolation rather than resilience.

She observes that “wellness algorithms have emerged as a kind of digital monasticism,” guiding individuals toward rituals of solitude under the guise of self-care. This inward turn, Isabel warns, risks disconnecting us from the collective strength historically embedded in wellness practices. Drawing on cultural history, she notes that “in ancient China, healing was woven into communal life,” and Aboriginal traditions in Australia centred wellness on harmony between people, spirit, and Country. Across centuries, wellness was understood as a shared responsibility, until consumerism reframed it as a personal project.

Isabel critiques this commodification, highlighting that wellness is now “Gwenyth Paltrow’s ‘Goop’, Kourtney Kardashian’s ‘Lemme’, the $100 yoga mat, and a subscription to a meditation app.” Such messaging, she argues, places the burden of wellbeing solely on the individual, obscuring systemic causes of stress and ill health.

“If we’re so preoccupied with ‘healing’ ourselves,” Isabel writes, “then we’re distracted from looking at the systemic flaws that may have contributed to our ‘unwellness’ in the first place.”

The consequences are profound: civic disengagement, loneliness, and a diminished appetite for collective action. As Isabel notes, “wellness culture often prescribes self-care as a response to burnout… but these remedies obscure the larger structural causes of exhaustion.” Her call to action is clear, reframe wellness as both an individual and communal pursuit. “Perhaps a recognition that wellbeing can be a collective act may free us from the burden of self-perfection in the name of ‘being well’.”

Isabel’s voice reminds us that true wellness lies not in isolation, but in solidarity. Her insights challenge us to look outward, fostering communities where care is shared and resilience is built together.

Isabel’s full article was published on Substack by Cheek Media here. 

Read more stories like this in The Mandevillian, 2025, Vol. 40 No. 2.