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<\/p>\nThere 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. <\/p>\n
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 \u201csignificant uptick\u201d in clients coming to them exhibiting symptoms.<\/p>\n
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 \u00a390,000 a week. <\/p>\n
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Paracelsus Recovery, the Zurich clinic<\/p>\n
FRANCOIS GLORIES\/MAXPPP<\/p>\n
Jan Gerber, the founder and chief executive, said: \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019re meditating. The thing is, often a significant amount of time is invested. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople start giving up on things that are important for them \u2014 the career can suffer, personal relationships can suffer.\u201d<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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\u2019s blood<\/a> and it has been reported that he also measures his erections at night. The 48-year-old claims that he will \u201cachieve immortality\u201d within the next 15 years. <\/p>\n Johnson has a strict medical and physical regimen to achieve longer life<\/p>\n Gerber thinks that Johnson was more of a catalyst than a cause for this phenomenon. \u201cI think Bryan Johnson<\/a> is more of a symptom. I cannot comment on his motivation or anything. Of course, people are inspired [by him]. My feeling is the longevity conversation is out there anyways without individuals like him,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n The goal of achieving a long, even never-ending, life has been one that has obsessed humans since the dawn of time. Legends abound of the fountain of youth, ambrosia or the holy grail. Why then, is this pursuit now a syndrome? <\/p>\n Gerber said: \u201cThe door was open because of technological advances, right? It\u2019s a possibility [that] wasn\u2019t really there before like that.\u201d <\/p>\n Crucially, the longevity industry is a money-maker. \u201cThere is big money involved, from Silicon Valley to China, in the longevity space and there\u2019s longevity start-up funding vehicles [that] are heavily funded,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n Paracelsus Recovery also offers a service alongside its therapeutic offerings where clients can check in on their biological markers and statistics. It only takes on one client at a time, and a team of 15 will help the client recover from their varying afflictions. Longevity clinics all over the world offer week-long retreats to help patrons live longer, better lives. Clinique La Prairie, in Switzerland, where the assisted dying clinic Dignitas is also located, charges about \u00a330,000 for a week-long stay, tests and advice from their longevity experts. <\/p>\n Believing one can defeat or put off the inevitability of death is either an expression of narcissism or extreme anxiety. Gerber admitted: \u201cThere might be a kind of narcissistic element to it. But the way we see it clinically, it\u2019s more rooted in anxiety and anxiety is rampant all over the world<\/a> \u2026 it\u2019s on the increase globally, especially when life or geopolitics feels out of control. And also where eating disorders are rooted in.\u201d <\/p>\n You can\u2019t control how your mother treats you, he said, but you can control how you treat your body. He added: \u201cThat\u2019s what an eating disorder is. It\u2019s taking back control. And I very much see \u2026 unhealthy fixation on longevity as something very similar.\u201d <\/p>\n There is also now evidence that less wealthy people, too, are becoming clinically obsessed with the pursuit of a long life. Susie Masterson, a BACP accredited therapist, said that she sees increasing numbers of people who are fixated on living long and living well.<\/p>\n Masterson, who is based in Manchester, said that it can often begin with a relative or parent getting ill and it becomes a way of dealing with grief or coming to terms with mortality. <\/p>\n It is also a reaction to our increasingly febrile geopolitical climate. She said: \u201cI think it\u2019s related to the kind of global disarray we\u2019ve been experiencing \u2026 I still think people are trying to make sense of emerging from lockdown. I think when we feel out of control on a societal level, we look to increase our sense of control on an individual level.\u201d <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/7d521e63-a00e-4cbd-9add-50c2c0c94583.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Jan](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/\/baff6cab-79fc-46eb-ae2e-29308664e629.jpg\")
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