Healthism has learned to thrive as a result of the growing technological environment in which self management is increasingly promoted by doctors, social media influencers and government bodies. Landzelius (2006) describes the rise in debate and activism surrounding health in a movement which he refers to as the politics of vitality. There is a large amount of emphasis on the growing idea that our health status is a direct link to our morality.

The biomedical model is known for its exclusion of the impact of structural inequalities on illnesses, both physical and mental. This is due to the overall lack of acknowledgement of how culturally enhanced it is (Gaines et al., 2004). Biomedicine is built on a cultural metaphor that is so engrained in its structure, that many have grown immune to its impacts. According to Gaines and Hahn (1985) the body is viewed as a machine. When we are deemed unwell, this is merely a result of a malfunction in our machinery. Importantly, within this machinery, the mind is considered an irrelevant component in our pathological markup. This may be an indication as to why often people feel their mental health is overlooked by clinicians. Such a detail is essential to those with PTSD, as although biological markers of this disorder exist, the majority would not attend a doctor with the request of having their HPA axis taken apart and put back together, they come with recollections of their personal experiences. It is from these stories that the population remains hopeful that the healthcare system possess the ability to infer what has gone wrong. In reality, people find themselves dismissed upon the discovery that their heartbeat is normal or their bloods point to no pathological defects.

In the contemporary society, structural inequalities can range from poverty, racism and access to services such as education to discrimination based on class, sexuality and gender. There is a tendency to overlook just how detrimental societies structures are to our wellbeing. While there is a lack of discussion on the overall matter, I feel it is important to note the impact of inequalities on our brain chemistry. A prime example discussed by Hastings and colleagues (2022) is how many individuals in poverty appear to have heightened vigilance and hypocortisolism. With individuals suffering from PTSD in mind, it can be assumed that such factors would only worsen their symptoms, which are already caused by a decrease in cortisol!

With the healthism epidemic on the rise, we are seeing an increase in the amount of PTSD sufferers finding themselves being held responsible for their trauma recovery process. Wellness culture pushes tactics such as yoga retreats, joining a gym and five am wake ups. But such culture fails to recognize the people who physically cannot fight their PTSD in such a manner, or simply cannot afford to do so.