Mainstream Psychology is Failing Us
And why we need the existential lens
Something fundamental is missing in how we approach mental health in this country. We keep developing new diagnostic categories and refining treatment protocols, yet rates of anxiety and depression continue climbing. Nearly 1 in every 5 (18.2%) adults reported anxiety issues in 2022, up from 15.6% in 2019, while depression rates among adults rose from 18.5% to 21.4% during the same time period. Meanwhile, roughly two-thirds of Americans with a diagnosed mental health condition were unable to access treatment in 2021, though they had health insurance. The more we medicalize human distress, the more distressed people seem to become.
There’s a nagging sense that we’re addressing symptoms while somehow missing the heart of what it means to struggle as a human being in 2025. Our “evidence-based” treatments, for all their scientific rigor, feel oddly disconnected from the actual lived experience of trying to find meaning in an increas…
