There are Demons in Our Blood: Examining American Mental Health, Medication, and its Implications.
There’s a very famous video from 2006 in which a reporter attends a psychiatrist conference and asks numerous psychiatrists how many patients they’ve cured. The doctors have interesting reactions; some laugh at the reporter for even asking the question, and some look very uncomfortable by it. Between all the interviewees, not one of them claimed that they’ve cured a single patient. These reactions beg a curious question; if curing someone of their mental illness is not possible and may not even be the goal of treatment, then what is the purpose of the profession?
To become a psychiatrist or psychologist, one needs a doctorate. Mental health, as they say, is simply just health, and our culture often elevates these professions to levels of esteem that are quite high; similar to more traditional doctors. Many are also of the opinion that mental health providers are incredibly altruistic people who have devoted their lives to helping others. We would push back on those claims, not in whole, but in part.
Psychiatry, in its proper sense, treats extremely atypical cases of mental illness. To be blunt, this is virtually impossible to do and is exactly why none of the doctors in the video above can claim that they’ve cured a patient. Mental illness presents in quite ephemeral ways that are inconsistent, difficult, or outright impossible to measure. They present few, if any, measurable or quantifiable symptoms compared to traditional medicine. A cancerous tumor can be measured in size and in area of effect, for instance, where a person’s schizophrenic or antisocial outbursts are measurable only by qualification and observation. Therefore, psychiatric treatment of severe mental illness relies essentially on observation, interview, intervention and reassessment of otherwise unsociable and incredibly sick people. It is, therefore, impossibly unpredictable and highly variable both in its treatments and efficacy.
It is also disingenuous to claim that psychiatrists are inherently altruistic. In our article titled On Human Motivations, we noted that the true motivating factor for great innovators (including doctors) is not altruism but rather puzzle solving. The greatest innovators and physicians don’t set out to change humanity or heal people but rather have an insatiable obsession with uncovering and solving the intricacies of life. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that doctors are evil or uncaring. They are human after all, and of course they want their patients to get better. It’s simply not their main motivating factor; they treat healthcare not as altruism, but as an unravelling of the mysteries of the universe. It is the process of discovery that drives them, not the end result. The seemingly unimportant tropes of doctors having a horrible bedside manner and psychologists needing therapists themselves are humorous, yet curious, indications of this.
In sum, note that curing mental illness is virtually impossible, psychiatry is nothing like regular medicine, and the people engaged in this endeavor aren’t doing so out of love for their neighbor as much as they do it because it’s a fascinating field of study. This will be important as we continue.
What’s the Problem?
A few stats to help paint a picture: Suicides increased 29 percent among adolescents ages 15 to 19 over the last decade. Adolescent suicides increased from 8.4 per 100,000 in 2012 to 2014 to 10.8 deaths per 100,000 in 2018 to 2020. This increased even further during COVID lockdowns. The prevalence of major depressive episodes in adolescents aged 12–17 rose from 8.1% in 2009 to 15.7% in 2019, representing an increase of nearly 94% before the onset of the pandemic. The pandemic isn’t to blame for the increase though; according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency department visits for suspected suicide attempts among adolescent girls aged 12–17 years increased by 50.6% during the winter of 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Up to 5 percent of teen girls may have bulimia nervosa, and 0.48 percent of girls ages 15 to 19 have anorexia. A 2016 study in the UK found that the prescription of ADHD medication increased by 800 percent between 2000 and 2015, the most dramatic increase being in boys who are 10–14 years old.
For adults, the statistics are the same. The age-adjusted suicide rate in 2024 (13.7 per 100,000) remains approximately 32% higher than it was in 2000 (10.4 per 100,000). A 2020 poll by Pew Research Center found that 56.3 percent of liberal white women aged 18–29 had a mental health diagnosis, roughly double the 28.4 percent of moderate white women or 27.3 percent of conservative white women, both in the same age category. White women aged 45 and over represent 58 percent of adults who have used antidepressants for five years or more. Forty million adult Americans suffer from anxiety disorders, and depending on the disorder, women are typically at least twice as likely to have an anxiety disorder than men.
Many will claim that the recent decline in standard of living, political parties in power, racism, or some other manufactured problem is to blame for much of this. None of these are adequate explanations as the trend of declining mental health has been accumulating for quite some time and transcends all politics or standard of living quantifiers. After a period of stability in the early 2000s, suicide rates for early adolescents began a distinct upward trajectory around 2007. Data shows that the rate for this age group roughly tripled between 2007 and 2018.
Now, here’s the bombshell of all of these stats: the decrease in mental health has occurred in tandem with a massive increase in both psychiatric medication and the prevalence of mental health providers. We must be careful here not to confuse correlation with causation; it is not medicine nor doctors that are causing the increase in health issues. Rather, neither of these things have solved or even stemmed the tide of mental health problems. Antidepressant use among Americans by 110% percent from 1999 to 2016, from 7.7% of the population to almost 17% today. Higher medication usage ought to create fewer negative outcomes like suicide or self-harm. We see the opposite.
While difficult to accurately measure, the Bureau of Labor statistics suggest that we had roughly 150,000 mental health providers in 1999 as opposed to well over 200,000 today. Having more providers again ought to correlate with a decrease in mental health issues, though it is the opposite of what we see today. It’s also incorrect to say that people in earlier generations simply went undiagnosed and untreated. SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) were originally concocted in the 1980’s and saw widespread use by the 90’s. They are not a modern phenomenon, but the widespread prescription of them certainly is.
Treatment
Now, we get to the thrust of the article, which is this: do modern treatments and medications fix the problem, or do they make it worse? Modern talk therapy is perhaps the most visible and common form of treating mental illness. While this can be incredibly helpful in times of crisis, such as the loss of a job or loved one, it does not cure long-term, systemic depression or anxiety. Modern therapy is typically conducted by a certified and licensed professional who encourages the client talk about whatever ails them and then diagnoses them (often in tandem with medication) with a mental illness. These include anxiety disorders, depression, etc. A primary cause of anxiety and depression is known as rumination, which is the overindulgence of self-centered thinking.
Most of these diagnoses are wildly blown out of proportion due to modern cultural influence. This is best understood in analogy: if a doctor tells a patient once that the most lethal virus ever conceived has symptoms of skin rash and fever, then what is the likelihood of overreaction and hyperfocus by that patient when otherwise benign rashes and fevers are experienced? Furthermore, if it becomes vogue, via mass media and ‘destigmatization,’ to have some form of a disease (a prevalent effect known as social contagion), then it is a safe assumption to make that perhaps social and cultural influence can rapidly change aversions to having that disease and replace it with a predilection for said disease.
In many ways, this is what has happened to anxiety disorders and depression: mental health has broken cultural containment. Its buzzwords, symptoms, and diagnostic criteria now occupy a place in the daily lexicon that was most certainly unintended by clinical professionals. For example, the word ‘moron’ and ‘imbecile’ used to be clinical diagnoses of mental retardation. They were used so frequently by the general public as an insult that they lost all clinical meaning. The same is true of anxiety and depression today. Now, it’s something fun and quirky to have instead of a real problem to be regulated.
In essence, modern therapy and mental health culture wildly increase one’s exposure to rumination, which in turn accentuates and often validates symptom severity. Therapy proposes very modest or ineffective changes to thought and behavior patterns needed to fix it. Even worse, instead of offering tangible, focused lifestyle changes, they will instead offer pills. Where a cardiologist will insert stents and ban the consumption of certain foods based on specific medical evidence, a therapist will allow the patient to present a long list of self-report symptoms, which are critically unverifiable through other means, and often encourage or exacerbate the very problems causing the anxiety or depression in the first place.
The following scenario is illustrative of the problem at hand. A young woman sits down with a therapist with complaints of severe disruption to the quality of her life. She can only think about how others perceive her, what others are thinking and doing, and how she measures up to them. She has a limitless source of comparison material on social media and at school. She reports extreme distress and depression at her own achievements and body image and is looking for an urgent solution as the associated anxiety is having a dramatic effect on her life. The therapist now has a conundrum; how can you prove or verify that this is true? Assuming no acute risk of harm, you talk to the person and have them lay out all of the things that trouble them to begin developing a treatment plan. However; what if there is an acute risk of harm? As we’ve seen, suicide and self harm rates have skyrocketed and doctors are loathe to accept that sort of risk.
One of the most effective therapies, defined quantitatively, is the 12-step program for alcohol recovery. This process requires the patient to give up control and stress and turn away from their ailments with humility. One of the major tenants of therapy more generally, as it was becoming a science of practice, was behavioral change and acceptance of an issue. Now a lost art in the modern no-fault therapeutic culture, the AA program, or 12 step program, teaches exactly the opposite of no-fault talk therapy. Summarized for the sake of brevity, the 12 step program requires its participants to admit their powerlessness over the alcoholism that’s destroying their lives, submit to a higher power, admit and accept fault to another living person, make amends where possible, admit further inventory of wrongdoings, and engage in regular prayer and contrition for faults. No doubt derided as lunacy and scoffed at by the learned, quality scholarly studies show that this program produces higher rates of abstinence at 12, 24 and 32 months out from program completion, even compared to modern therapies, including cognitive behavioral therapy. Other studies have even found a direct relationship: high attendance produced more abstinence. It is indeed safe to say that this approach has a shocking success rate, given the rate of alcoholism and its difficulty to cure. Contemporary research qualifies alcoholism as a chronic, relapsing disorder with high remission, with consistent reports of relapse rates of 40-60% within the first year. We can conclude from this stark contrast that the objectives of modern talk therapy are at least heavily diluted and are not related to the successful conventions of therapy as it was initially conceived.
It must also be noted that the vast majority of mental health providers likely share the same worldview that leads their patients to develop mental health conditions. A stunning 62% of liberal white Americans have been diagnosed with a mental illness. As luck what have it, 76% (or more) of psychiatrists identify as liberal or progressive. The pot calling the kettle black only gets worse when you realize that the majority of mental health diagnoses are given to women, and that 80% of mental health providers are also women.
This isn’t science and it’s certainly not healthcare. It should be obvious by now that the entire mental health landscape is a sociocultural, and quasi political, experiment where a dominant demographic plagued by anxiety and depression reinforces and validates those symptoms in others. Good thing they aren’t allowed to wildly dispense mass quantities of zombifying medication with no oversight or repercussions, right?
Medication
Let’s dispel one massive misconception right away: The theory that depression is caused by low serotonin or a “chemical imbalance in the brain” is not supported by science. This is a convenient yet incorrect nicety that people use as a barrier that allows them to ignore real problems that actually cause depression, which are much harder to solve than simply taking a pill.
Modern medicine for low-grade psychological issues is, at best, not understood, and at worst, societal poison. In reference to earlier mentions of psychiatry, we must note that there are proven, effective chemical treatments for pernicious and extreme mental health issues. Lithium, for instance, is extremely useful in treating bipolar disorder and improving the quality of life in its patients. There are other methods of treating schizophrenia and other hallucinatory conditions which absolutely do require the administration of medication for anything approaching a ‘cure’ to be successful. This is, however, not at all the case for many low-grade and often misdiagnosed modern mental ailments.
Anxiety, depression, and ADHD are by far and away the most diagnosed and mistreated ‘conditions’ in the modern lexicon. Rather than assuming that a certain degree of anxiety, activity levels, and depression are normal parts of human life, and without starting with the least intrusive cures, modern therapy is very quick to introduce medication that is still not fully understood while eschewing more uncomfortable lifestyle changes. SSRIs are the most obvious example: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, and their SNRI cousins, prevent the reuptake of serotonin and other neurotransmitters and neuromodulators released into the neuron-to-neuron gap from being taken back up into the appropriate cells, thereby promoting the synapse of serotonin onto neurons for a prolonged amount of time.
In other words, SSRIs slow the absorption of serotonin to make it last longer in the intracellular space. This supposedly elongates the possibly (even this part isn’t agreed on by scientists) therapeutic effects of serotonin. The experienced outcome of this is not settled science, meaning that the ‘feel-good’ effect of SSRI’s isn’t actually that good. A whopping 70% of SSRI users report sexual impotence and the inability to climax. Many users report severe gastrointestinal issues, as well as increased anxiety, brain fog, insomnia, and ‘brain zaps,’ which are flashes of light accompanied by a buzzing sensation. Anecdotally, I’ve known many people in my personal life who have described the feeling of being on SSRI’s as “watching a movie about my life play out in front of me, but I’m not in the driver’s seat.” Other stories abound with many people claiming that SSRI’s inhibited their ability to feel anything. One said that it felt like “the lights were on but nobody was home.” They never truly felt ‘good,’ but instead just felt nothing. They didn’t cry, but they couldn’t laugh. They didn’t feel sorrow but also couldn’t feel overwhelming joy. It simply numbs the brain.
At the risk of becoming too sentimental, I’ve seen this happen to loved ones in my own life. Their anxiety about jobs, school, or family issues turned into medication without any lifestyle changes; they received only validation of their feelings from friends and pill providers. The medication they were given never actually solved the problem they had with their job, or school, or their family. Instead, they stopped laughing at movies. Stopped singing in the car. Stopped going on dates or engaging in intimacy. When they came off these medications, lo and behold; the same problems that gave them anxiety in the first place were still there. Nothing was solved, nothing was cured, but there was a massive new layer of stress, disappointment, and resentment for everyone involved.
Further down the line of strength are benzodiazepines. Xanax, the most recognizable name, functions by causing increased activity in the receptors that bind GABA, a primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. This means that the chemical is designed to turn things “off” or down-regulate their function. They are used to stop acute panic attacks, insomnia, and alcohol withdrawal. They are highly addictive and extremely potent with very high potential for abuse and addiction while carrying significant side effects. While not the first line of defense, they are widely used and prescribed for large lists of mental conditions today.
Finally, we arrive to stimulants (amphetamines) for the treatment of ADHD. I will discuss this separately soon, but ADHD is perhaps the most abused and nonsensical diagnosis in the entire gamut of popular “illnesses.” The medication used for it is well understood; Adderall, Ritalin and other stimulants work by releasing dopamine and norepinephrine into the brain, stimulating focus, pursuit and positive energy. Long term side effects are relatively minor; however, it is easy to build a tolerance too, meaning long term dose control becomes necessary. The primary risk comes with cardiovascular side effects of higher heart rate and blood pressure, though this is no different to something like large doses of caffeine, for instance.
Of utmost concern is how easy it is to access these medications. These medications are broadly available, with primary care providers (not psychological professionals every time) able and willing to write prescriptions. About 56% of psychotropic medication is prescribed by PCPs, meaning a primary care physician (note: not a mental health provider) or licensed professional can and will prescribe a whole host of medications for these symptoms. There is no set standard for number, quality, quantity, verification or substantiation of symptomology; as long as the patient merely says they’re experiencing the issue or demonstrates sufficient distress or severity of symptoms, the provider will act within their individual discretion to provide these medications, underscoring just how widespread their usage has become.
Diagnostic problems
Diagnostic criterion in the DSM 5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) is extremely broad, by necessity, and therefore highly subject to interpretation by providers. Again, it is very easy to diagnose high blood pressure, skin cancer, and diabetes. This is because there are obvious pathologies and physiologies to these disorders. There is not, however, an obvious structural or chemical marker for what is hilariously entitled “Common Mental Disorders (CMD)”. While some studies have noted relatively consistent trends in patients reporting these conditions, the evidence often has too many confounding variables to be reliably considered diagnostic. Given this, vague disorders like generalized anxiety disorder, persistent depression, and especially ADHD are thrown around for fun. One of the DSM 5 diagnostic criteria for ADHD is “inattention,” literally described as easily distracted or struggling with chores and homework. Does this not describe virtually every young boy? I encourage the reader to consider this; is it more likely that there is an increase of upwards of 800% of ADHD in boys, or is it more likely that this is a fake diagnosis for something that’s not an illness at all?
This is rather important in the psychological world because diagnosis is a strict codification of the issue, and it impacts behavior and perception. When people receive a diagnosis, whether it is of gastritis, anxiety or depression, or lung cancer, one of the following reactions can occur: the first is relief and catharsis due to having a named enemy to fight. The second is stigma, social and interpersonal changes in social dynamics, shame, self-esteem issues, pride, and worst of all, validation of poor personal traits and habits. This can create a lack of willingness to try and recover due to perceived futility, and so on.
There is a third scenario, however, that is relatively recent and pernicious. The third reaction is actually a pursuit of the disease and its symptoms. The patient will actually lean into their diagnoses and use it as a social and employment-based crutch. For example, 2% of boomers identify as a member of the LGBT community, compared to 20% of generation Z. If LGBT identities are a result of natural dispersion, this number should be relatively consistent in a static population. Realistically, LGBT identification varies widely with social contagion, and the number of Gen Z who identify with this movement will naturally decrease as they age and their identification with the movement becomes less trendy. However, leaning into the LGBT identity provides a sort of social protection and bond that is very appealing; it protects people who engage in otherwise unacceptable behavior (like being naked in front of children in public) and prevents employment discrimination. Therefore, people lean into what would otherwise be considered a negative identity trait.
This can definitively alter the outcomes of a treatment of mental illness, especially in young patients. This is why broad diagnostic criterion is such a risk for such abstract disorders. Once there is a diagnosis, there is a justification for medication, mindset changes, and behavioral changes regardless of if that diagnosis holds any water at all. This also exists in very stark contrast to non-common mental disorders. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, psychosis, and other disorders are very well documented, diagnosed, and treated with extreme care. Unfortunately, due to what can only be identified as extreme malpractice on behalf of mental health and primary care providers, public awareness of these symptoms and disorders now exists and has been destigmatized, leading to an extreme uptick in prevalence, combined with a complete lack of willingness on behalf of providers to push back on errant self-diagnosis and social contagion.
Across all medical disciplines, the golden standard of success is the least intrusive, least life-impacting treatment for the root cause – not symptoms - of an illness. Sometimes, the treatment needs to be extreme because the threat to life is extreme. Advanced cancer requires chemotherapy and radiation. Certain traumas require amputation. In psychotherapy (but not always psychiatry), medication and talk therapy are almost always the first interventions in patients, irrespective of whether or not it is warranted. There are untold numbers of young college students prescribed Adderall, SSRIs, benzos and other psychotropic medications upon their first or second visits with mental health and primary care professionals. No mention of lifestyle changes, no exploration of pertinent cultural or environmental impacts, no concern for age or developmental status, self-esteem, or other treatments. There is often no discussion of diet or exercise, increased socialization, or other extenuating factors. There are many reasons for this, but few of them are excusable. There is no such thing as a low-impact medication that’s always safe or free to use; even aspirin can kill you.
So what now?
Here’s where we stand: psychologists and psychotherapists do not cure patients. In fact, they are not motivated to do so. Instead, they are motivated by the desire to figure out how the brain works and treat that pursuit as the ultimate endeavor; not the outcome. SSRI’s and other medications do not cure people, nor do they even make them feel good. Instead, they turn people into zombies. These medications are farmed out on a whim with no diagnostic consistency, making our citizens (women in particular) functional lab rats.
As we just stated, the golden standard of success in medicine requires treating the root cause of an illness and not the symptoms. As we discussed in our article titled “Is All ‘Change’ Simply Progress?,” the obvious root cause of anxiety, depression, and other mental instability is lifestyle choice. The more we medicate, the more we realize that it doesn’t work. By eliminating things that don’t work, we hone in on what does.
We strongly encourage people to read the article linked in the above paragraph and pause for a moment: What kind of world have we created in which it’s not only normal, but promoted, for over 50% of women and 60% of progressives to simply exist in modern life while heavily medicated? This medication isn’t for acute or for sudden symptoms, but for simply existing. Medicated to walk the dog; medicated to go to work; medicated to hang out with friends; medicated to sleep (life’s most basic function!). How did we ever get to this point?
If the United States was plagued by an observable disease so devastating that the end result was more than half of our neighbors living a a life so grotesque and unenjoyable that they needed to be zombified to get through it, we would treat that disease as the number one, top-tier priority to solve. Every business would work to end it; every donated dollar would go towards it; every ad campaign, sporting event, and clinic would be geared towards solving it. Even so, this exact thing happens and we glide through it every single day without so much as a thought. The obvious reality is this: We have built a system that isn’t working. When half of your population wants out, it should be a clear rebuke of that system. As noted in the above article, there is no doubt that the increasingly progressive and disconnected nature of our society has caused the uptick in anxiety and depression. Nothing more, nothing less.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy focuses on identifying and challenging maladaptive thought patterns and behaviors. In other words, it shows you your awful behaviors and forces you to confront and fix them. It has been empirically validated to be as effective as medication for many individuals with mild-to-moderate depression. As it turns out, accountability, discipline, and humility are great medicines. Who would have thought! (actually, we did.)
Likewise, aerobic exercise shows massive mental health benefits. Aerobic exercise in a group setting shows even better benefits, likely due to the social nature of the activity. Humans are incredibly social beings, and our addiction to computers and isolation most certainly contributes to mental illness. Likewise, sleep (also often interrupted by computers) and physical wellness are absolutely paramount to mental stability. As both of these things decline nationally, so too does mental wellbeing. Lastly, it can’t be ignored how significant the presence of faith and religiosity is to feelings of acceptance, stability, and love.
We don’t mean to oversimplify what many depressed and anxious people have already tried. If curing these diseases were that simple, we know that many people wouldn’t suffer from them as they currently do. We know that a quick exercise, plate of veggies, and a church visit won’t cure you. However, we can say emphatically that it would bring one much closer to a cure than being overweight, antisocial, and online-addicted while taking Lexapro ever will. Over time, repetitive exposure to healthy behaviors can most certainly take the edge off mental illness like these pills say they will, but never quite deliver upon.
If you, the reader, are someone that has struggled with these issues and relies on medication, please know that this isn’t being published to antagonize you. Instead, it’s meant to save you. If you live in a big city that’s crushed your spirit, this is your signal that it’s time to move. If you’re in a relationship that drains you, it’s time to move on. If your job makes you suicidal, quit at all costs. Any of these solutions are better than continuing the status quo. No amount of medication can cure you, and the doctors can’t either. These decision are hard, but not as hard as it will be to continue living this way.
The final takeaway is that we cannot continue to build a society so unacceptable that people opt out. This article is about mental health, but at its core, was spurred by the question of what causes anxiety and depression in the first place if psychologists and pills can’t solve it. Only by acknowledging these fundamental failures can this malignancy be uprooted from our society.