Breaking the Mental Health Myth: Why Science (and the HealthCare System) Are Failing Us

 In my last blog post, I wrote about mental health and how the field of psychiatry was a big interest of mine. Being able to discuss the mysteries of the human mind and why psychiatry fascinates me, made my last post a very fun one to write. Well, it looks like that theme is continuing into my second blog, this time with a focus on something even more frustrating: the system that’s supposed to provide mental health care and why it’s failing so many people.

I previously discussed briefly about my connection to mental health as a student-athlete but not in great detail. As a college lacrosse player here at Stevens, I know firsthand how difficult it is to balance academics, athletics, and personal life. The morning lifts/conditioning, late-night studying/homework, film sessions, and practices all push my body and mind to a different limit. The expectation is to always perform at your best, whether on the field or in the classroom, and if you're struggling, the societal message especially for men athletes is clear: push through and keep going.

In sports, mental toughness is everything. When your mind is not in the sport, it is hard to perform at your best similarly to if your mind is not prepared it is hard to get ready for test or class activities. Admitting to stress, burnout, or anxiety can feel like weakness and I have dealt with these feelings since high school, but the reality is different. 

Burnout is real. 

Anxiety is real. 

Depression is real. 

And for many student-athletes, the resources just aren’t there to deal with it. Teams might offer a brief seminar on mental health at the start of the season, but when athletes actually need help? Finding care is a challenge. 

In my last blog post, I wrote about the limits of psychiatry and how we still don’t fully understand the human mind. But even if we did, it wouldn’t matter much if people can’t access help in the first place.

Why is mental health care so hard to get?

The U.S. has some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world, yet mental health care remains out of reach for many. The system prioritizes profits over people, which leaves millions struggling without support.

  • Therapy? Expensive and inaccessible.

  • Appointments? Waitlists stretch for months.

  • Insurance? Often doesn’t cover what people actually need.

Many of my friends have tried to get therapy, only to find the cost is too high or the wait is too long. And the few who do find a provider? Booked up for months.

One of the biggest problems in how society views mental health. The oversimplified idea that our mental struggles are just "in our genes." This is something that we have been told for years that things like depression, anxiety, and even personality traits are hardwired into our DNA and that if you’re struggling mentally, it’s simply because of a genetic imbalance that you were "born with."

Professor Horgan rips this idea apart in his article "Gene-Whiz Science Is Dead. Yay!" He exposes how for decades, scientists and the media have pushed the idea that we can link everything: intelligence, aggression, sexual orientation, even religion, back to specific genes. But as Horgan points out, this kind of genetic determinism is deeply flawed and has led us down the wrong path in many areas of science which includes mental health.

Philip Ball, who Horgan references in his article, argues that the idea of "genes controlling everything" is collapsing because current research has proven that biology is much more complex. ProfessorHorgan agrees, criticizing how science and the media have hyped up genetic explanations for human behavior without real evidence.

This directly applies to mental health care today. The dominant model assumes that mental health issues are caused by "chemical imbalances" in the brain, which apparently can be fixed with a pill. Just like gene-whiz science, this idea is an oversimplification. Depression and anxiety aren’t just about brain chemistry but they are influenced by environment, stress, trauma, and personal experiences.

Yet, because of this outdated thinking, the entire mental health system is built around medication, not real solutions.

When therapy isn’t available, the default solution is medication. Antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, and ADHD drugs are prescribed at staggering rates because they are the easiest and most profitable option by the healthcare system.

But here’s the issue:

  1. Medication alone doesn’t fix mental health issues.

  2. Many drugs don’t even work the way we think they do.

Take SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro), widely prescribed, yet scientists still don’t fully understand why they work for some people and not others.

In How Life Really Works, Philip Ball challenges the idea that mental health is purely a chemical imbalance or dictated by genetics. Ball argues that science has oversimplified the issue, treating emotions and struggles as biological malfunctions to be fixed with pills.

This connects back to Horgan’s criticism of the “gene-whiz” era, which claimed that all human traits and disorders could be traced back to DNA. Mental health is shaped by stress, trauma, financial burdens, and daily life, not just biology.

Yet, instead of addressing these root causes, the system throws medication at the problem because it’s profitable. And who benefits? Pharmaceutical companies, making billions while real solutions remain out of reach. THIS IS A MAJOR ISSUE!!

At its core, mental health care in America is a business. If you don’t have money or the right insurance, good luck getting help.

This is exactly the kind of scientific hype and failure that Professor Horgan warns about. He shows how for decades, genetic determinism was treated as fact, just like today’s chemical imbalance theory in mental health.

The reality is that science is very very MESSY, but when bad science gets commercialized, it leads to real harm. Just like the false hope of gene-based medicine, the current mental health system focuses on profitable solutions (Pills) rather than what actually helps people (therapy, community support, and prevention).

If mental health care were truly about healing people, therapy would be:

  • Affordable, or even free (as it is in many other countries).

  • Easier to access, with shorter wait times.

  • Treated as just as important as physical health.

I see the effects of this broken system every day. I see its effects in myself, in my teammates, in my classmates. The pressure to be constantly productive, always achieving, never struggling is a very overwhelming feeling. 

And when people do struggle? The system makes it nearly impossible for them to get help.

Professor Horgan’s critique of gene-whiz science applies perfectly to mental health care today. We have been sold an oversimplified, outdated view of how mental health works, just like people were once sold the myth that single genes determine personality traits.

Professor Horgan's argument reminds me of what I see every day:

  • Athletes struggling with mental health but not getting help.

  • Therapy being expensive and inaccessible.

  • Medication being pushed as a one-size-fits-all solution.

It’s time to move past outdated, simplistic science. Mental health is complex, just like everything else in biology. Until we stop treating it as just "chemical imbalances that need to be fixed", we’ll continue to fail millions of people who need real help.

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