Bryan Johnson – When reassurance seeking goes too far

 

I had never heard of Bryan Johnson until I was browsing through Netflix documentaries one day. I started watching the documentary about his life choices, Don´t Die, and Blueprint, his company. In short, it’s about how he believes he can become immortal by living an extremely regimented, robot-like life — for example, waking up at 5 AM, working out, taking 50 supplements a day (or was it 100?), completely avoiding sunlight, scanning his body, doing all kinds of blood tests, and undergoing a wide range of body treatments. And no, the methods and treatments he tries are far from evidence-based, which means he's basically using himself as a guinea pig — going against everything established medical science stands for.

He believes it's entirely possible to live forever, as long as you "do the right things," but in my opinion, he’s more likely to stress his body to death and die prematurely — at least if he continues the way he has so far. One example of when things went seriously wrong was when he took rapamycin, an immunosuppressant, which instead increased his rate of aging and contributed to infections.

Bryan Johnson is said to have a thyroid condition that he developed in his early 20s. That means he’s had it for quite a while now, considering he’s nearing 50. When you have a thyroid condition, it’s important not to stress the body unnecessarily — even intense physical exercise alone can trigger a stress response in the immune system, making the thyroid either sluggish or overactive. In other words, he is not in a condition to be experimenting on himself and should instead be relying on evidence-based, proven medical treatments.

If I were in Bryan’s immediate circle, I’d be genuinely worried about him. Looking at his history, he went from deep depression straight into this lifestyle, which suggests he may not have fully recovered from the depression — though of course, only he truly knows that.

The problem with not fully addressing a deep depression and finding solid ground before diving into a massive project like Blueprint or his YouTube presence is that, if things were to go badly — for example, if he faced heavy criticism or got "canceled" — the depression could very likely return in an even deeper form.

Bryan Johnson´s Youtube Channel

What do you think about Bryan Johnson? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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