, perhaps a reminder not to obsess too much on this…
The obsession with living for as long as possible is now a disorder seen in a range of people, with clinics and therapists reporting more patients seeking help
There are two certainties in life: death and taxes. It seems now the uber-rich and famous appear to believe that they may be able to avoid them both.
Leading health professionals have recognised a new disorder, longevity fixation syndrome, which they say is an obsession with longevity so all-consuming it begins to take over daily life. Now a Swiss clinic has said that it has seen a “significant uptick” in clients coming to them exhibiting symptoms.
On the lakefront in Zurich, the upper echelons of society make their way to Paracelsus Recovery, a mental health clinic with a highly personalised and skilled team treating patients for about £90,000 a week.
Paracelsus Recovery, the Zurich clinic
Jan Gerber, the founder and chief executive, said: “It’s like any fixation, like an eating disorder or a classic behavioural addiction. An anxiety-driven, compulsive obsession on the topic of longevity that can be anything from diagnostics variables, obsessing over the stats after a workout or after sleep, or recording your brainwaves when you’re meditating. The thing is, often a significant amount of time is invested.
“People start giving up on things that are important for them — the career can suffer, personal relationships can suffer.”
While the syndrome will not yet be found in diagnostic manuals, Gerber sees it as similar to orthorexia, a type of eating disorder where sufferers become obsessed with healthy eating and exercise.
It could be said that this obsession began with Bryan Johnson, the American venture capitalist who shot to fame when his chief task became to live as long as possible. He has taken great pains to do so, being infused with his son’s blood and it has been reported that he also measures his erections at night. The 48-year-old claims that he will “achieve immortality” within the next 15 years.
Read the full story: Uber-rich lead rise in diagnoses of ‘longevity fixation syndrome’ (The Times UK)