Instagram wellness influencers both challenge and commercialise burnout

Instagram wellness influencers send women conflicting messages about how to live well, according to research by the University of Eastern Finland reported by Yle. Their content praises hard work and self-discipline while also promoting gentleness and acceptance of imperfection.

Doctoral researcher Reetta Haverinen analysed 490 Instagram posts from seven Finnish female wellness influencers. The study examines competing ideas about what women should be and how they should care for themselves.

“The key finding of my research is that wellness content aimed at women also dares to challenge thinking that praises achievement and efficiency,” Haverinen said.

However, the content generally directs criticism towards individuals rather than society. Setting boundaries, changing oneself and practising self-care are presented as women’s main options in an individual-centred culture.

Focusing on oneself can also be a way of managing anxiety caused by issues over which people feel they have little control, such as wars or climate change. This may lead people to concentrate on a small part of their lives, such as refining their exercise routine or diet.

Wellness is a vast business

According to the 2025 Global Wellness Economy Monitor report, the wellness industry was worth 6.8 trillion dollars in 2024. Mental wellness was one of its fastest-growing sectors, expanding by an average of 12.4 per cent annually between 2019 and 2024.

The Global Wellness Institute, the wellness industry’s own research unit, forecasts that the sector’s value will approach 10 trillion dollars by 2029.

Turning exhaustion into a product

As discussion of burnout and performance pressure has increased, influencers have also begun producing commercial content aimed at tired women. Haverinen said it was difficult to give a single answer to whether this represented the use of professional expertise or a rebranding of achievement culture in a gentler form.

She believes many influencers genuinely want to help. At the same time, content creation is their livelihood, and they face structural pressure to please their audiences, commercial partners and Instagram’s algorithm.

Openness can also be part of a marketing strategy in which influencers present themselves as authentic and disclose vulnerabilities to their audiences, Haverinen said.

Haverinen has consumed wellness content for years, first through fitness blogs in the 2000s and now on Instagram. Her research has changed her perspective but has not made her immune to social media’s appeal.

She said she remains susceptible when influencers praise particular diets or market wellness products. In her view, Instagram’s algorithm detects users’ interests and feeds them increasing amounts of similar content.

Haverinen identified several reasons why women may be particularly receptive to wellness messaging. The content is often visually beautiful, inviting and ethereal, and appeals through messages about indulgence and pleasure.

Wellness culture tells women they are allowed to care for themselves and focus on their own needs. At the same time, it can overlook inequality and direct criticism towards individuals instead of society.

When someone is exhausted, they may be offered an online stress-management course rather than an examination of whether problems lie in social structures or working culture, Haverinen said.

Haverinen also stressed that wellness influencers are important sources of support for many women.