How America can lead itself out of its mental health crisis

I’ve seen patients stuck in a mindset that rewards fragility, elevates victimhood and leaves people feeling powerless rather than giving them the resilience they need to face life’s challenges.

Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist and author of the forthcoming book "The Therapy Trap: How a Culture of Self-Absorption Makes Us Sick, Weak, and Divided."

According to a 2023 Gallup Poll, 29% of U.S. adults have been diagnosed with depression, up nearly 10% since 2015. That year marked a turning point in American culture. Following high-profile incidents like the shooting of Michael Brown, a young Black man in Ferguson, Missouri, by a White police officer, national conversations around race, power and identity intensified.