“There hare no hacks for improved health”

Everyone is looking for a hack to wellness. In reality, the turtle wins the race when it comes to improved physical and emotional wellbeing. In today’s episode, I review five dangerous health trends, many promoted on TikTok to youth. Some trends have the potential to cause long term health consequences and even death. We encourage everyone to hold social media companies and search engine algorithms to account for allowing the promotion these harmful hacks.

Welcome to Episode 58: Disturbing Health Trends

1. What We Do:
   
   • Behavioural Medicine and Health Psychology
     
   • Providing easily accessible content designed to help you design your own transformative experience.
     
   
   
2. Today:
   
   • I review and comment on five disturbing health trends that have the potential to cause serious harm to your physical and/or emotional wellbeing.
     
   
   
3. Services Review:
   
   • Finding My Psych offers three core services focused on promoting physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness.
     
     • Foundations: Wellness Planning Workshop
       
     • Walking For Vitality: Powering Up
       
     • Running For Fitness: 5k Build-Up
       
     
     
   
   

Disturbing Health Trends

1. Benadryl®) Overdose (or, Benadryl®) Chalenge)
   
   • Intention to experience hallucinations and altered mental state.
     
   • Presentation to ED: Drowsiness, disorientation, hallucinations, pupillary dilation.
     
   • Risk: Coma, delirium, seizures, cardiac arrest.
     
   
   
2. Garlic Up the Nose
   
   • Intended to clear nasal congestion.
     
   • Causes severe inflammation, thus causing massive production of mucus that takes a long time to stop.
     
   
   
3. Dry Fasting
   
   • Intended to, “detox” your body. Promoted as a weight loss method.
     
   • “Spiritual” benefits.
     
   • Risk:
     
     • Dehydration
       
       • Dizziness
         
       • Hypovolemic Shock (low blood volume and bp)
         
       
       
     • Seizures (electrolyte imbalance)
       
     • Brain Swelling (upon rehydration)
       
     • Hyponatremia (upon rehydration)
       
     • Kidney Failure
       
     
     
   
   
4. Dry Scooping
   
   • Intended to promote better absorption before a workout.
     
   • No benefit
     
   • Risk: Aspiration, choking, uncontrollable coughing.
     
   • Depending on powder, can cause higher than intended absorption (e.g., caffeine).
     
   
   
5. Eating Fermented Meat
   
   • Individuals seeking euphoria.
     
     • Possible euphoric feeling from dehydration and even delirium after stomach upset.
       
     • Risk: Dangerous gut bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus and salmonella.
       
     
     
   
   

Mentioned Today

1. SMRK Apparel –
   
   • Mental Health Apparel
     
   • “At SMRK, our goal is to provide the opportunity for others to claim back a piece of who they are that was otherwise stolen through depression and anxiety.   When you wear SMRK clothing,  Not only do you join our nation of SMRKers, but you provide free counselling for those ready to re-discover who they are and how they were wired to be.”