# Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry

Mind the Science: Saving Your Mental Health from the Wellness Industry is a 2024 book by psychologist and adjunct assistant professor at the University of Calgary, Jonathan N. Stea. This book examines the Wellness industry, the harm medical pseudoscience can have on individuals in the hope that people will be able to make more informed decisions about their health care. The book is written for the lay audience and also includes many appendices that define terms that act as a reference guide. This book was published by Oxford University Press.

## Synopsis

The journal Psychiatric Times notes that the book is divided into three main sections:
* how to see red flags in wellness information,
* identifying propaganda and misinformation, and
* solutions "grounded in mainstream science and medicine".
Stea uses many examples to explain to the layperson how seductive alternative medicine can be when science-based medicine does not offer immediate results. Using the personal story of his mother, Stea explains various pseudoscience practices such as acupuncture, reflexology, chiropractic, Reiki and more.
Multiple examples used show how difficult it is to navigate through mental illness, addiction and obsessive compulsive disorder often wasting time, money and causing "great harm".

## Background

In an interview with Dr. Bradley Block, on the Physician's Guide to Doctoring podcast, Stea explained that it took him three years to write this book. He criticizes online influencers like Andrew Tate for blaming the victim, calling people who are unhealthy, "fat, lazy men ... using stigmatizing terms ... that positions health as a moral virtue". He calls various anti-science groups like anti-vaccine and anti-psychiatry movements "good bedfellows": "They all serve as foils to mainstream medicine at large".$^{:9:00–11:40}$ Block brought up a term used in the book that he felt was meaningful, "desperation is intoxicating" which the wellness industry capitalizes on.$^{:25:37-25:48}$
In an October 2024 conversation with podcaster Seth Andrews about the wellness industry and trust of "Big Pharma", Stea responds that it is important to be skeptical of the pharmaceutical industry, they have earned a distrust because of their history, "a case I make in my book however is we also have a 5.6 trillion dollar wellness industry that is largely unregulated for safety and effectiveness ... Big Pharma does have a lot of well earned peril to its credit, it at least tries to be regulated for safety and effectiveness, unlike the wellness industry. ... A huge message of my book ... we can't put our all our trust in Big Pharma does not mean that the wellness industry is now our knight in shining armor."$^{:18:15–22:00}$ When asked about detox, Stea responded that it is a scam used to cause fear, a wellness buzzword, then they will "gift us a detox product that will get rid of toxins that are causing X, Y and Z, various ailments, cancer, AIDS, mental illness ... if anyone is claiming they have a detox product they want to sell you, it's almost certainly a scam."$^{:35:40–40:07}$

## Reception

Psychologist Cassandra L. Boness writing for Skeptical Inquirer states that Mind the Science "is a critically important contribution to the literature on pseudoscience" and "artfully achieves the aim of his book: to 'educate and embolden' people to make informed decisions about their mental health by providing the tools needed to avoid harmful misinformation." Boness writes that Stea focuses on the harm created by the wellness industry and that she appeached that he used many examples, some personal experiences to educate readers.
Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University, Awais Aftab reviewing Mind the Science for Psychiatric Times writes that, "Stea's writing style is engaging, marked by empathy and humor, and he makes complex concepts digestible. The book provides practical, relatable scenarios that illustrate the dangers of pseudoscience."