The troubling rise of longevity fixation syndrome: I was crushed by the pressure I put on myself'

"In that moment, I just snapped, he recalls. I hit rock bottom, I got angry I started crying, I started shaking. I just felt like I couldn't do it any more, like I had been crushed by all this pressure I put on myself. Today, Wood, 40, speaks calmly. Neat and groomed, he seems orderly by nature. But at that time, his attempts to control every aspect of his life had spiralled."

"He painstakingly monitored what he ate (sometimes only organic, sometimes raw or unprocessed; calories painstakingly counted), his exercise regime (twice a day, seven days a week), and tracked every bodily function from his heart rate to his blood pressure, body fat and sleep schedule. He even monitored his glucose levels repeatedly throughout the day. I was living by those numbers, he says."

"Two or three times a month he would visit wellness clinics for IV drips of vitamin cocktails, plus oxygen treatments administered through a tube in the nose the package costing $250 to $300 (about 180 to 220) a pop for health benefits he struggles to specify. He would also request reams of blood tests every six months checking 15 to 20 biomarkers, from testosterone to creatinine to lipids. He estimates that he spent about $10,000 in total."

Jason Wood imposed rigid control over diet, exercise and biometric data, tracking calories, glucose, heart rate, blood pressure, body fat and sleep. He followed two-a-day workouts, strict meal plans and frequent wellness-clinic treatments including IV vitamin drips and oxygen therapy. He ordered extensive blood tests every six months, tracking 15–20 biomarkers and spending roughly $10,000 on these practices. A small deviation—receiving hummus instead of preordered crudités—triggered a breakdown in which he cried, shook and felt crushed by self-imposed pressure. The routine became a cage that prioritized numbers over well-being, later giving way to a calmer presentation.

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