When Did Self-Help Become Self-Care?

Self-help is far removed from self-care. Self-help is about fixing something while self-care thinks you're already great.

The trendy self-help is linked with business management and entrepreneurialism. Self-help seeks to categorize and instruct.

Much of the wellness content is gestural - establishing boundaries, going to the doctor, doing less.

There is an overlapping section between self-help and self-care that could be categorized as "spiritual self-help." Spiritual self-help wants to fix less often and focuses on understanding and calm, much like self-care.

The authorities of a self-help wellness sell a specific program to live by and include exercise alphas as well as diet gurus.

Other wellness entrepreneurs serve the kinds of people who want spirituality and connection, and self-awareness along with physical care.

Many newer wellness products are direct-to-consumer and include custom vitamins from subscription services, as well as curated boxes filled with candles and jade rollers.

While self-help-styled wellness involves orthodox top-down, rules-based wellness, newer self-care wellness is an easy sell through human design, snail-mucus face masks, or whatever works.

While self-help wellness products came from the health-food store with practical or medicinal packaging, self-care wellness products often look like a new kind of high-end beauty product.