The costs of turning therapy into a pop culture fad

"When I was growing up, mental health was rarely talked about. Most people knew someone who had gone to therapy and generally accepted it as a necessary step in getting the help they needed. But what happened on the chaise lounge stayed on the chaise lounge. People didn't discuss their diagnoses, and if therapy came up, it was usually in reference to the latest episode of The Sopranos."

"All positive changes, but then things continued to accelerate. Today, online mental health advice is as contradictory as it is universal. Psychology apps abound in online stores, often marketed with grand but unfounded efficacy claims. Social media "experts" shrink life-sized advice into bite-sized clips, and it lately seems like everyone struggles with depression or anxiety or trauma or OCD or some other condition."

Mental health stigma was once strong, with therapy treated as private and rarely discussed. Legislative changes and celebrity disclosures increased access and normalized conversation. The internet expanded public exposure to mental-health information. Commercialization accelerated with numerous psychology apps claiming effectiveness and social media personalities offering compressed clinical advice. Contradictory guidance and proliferation of lay experts have made mental-health knowledge inconsistent. The term psychobabble denotes misuse of psychological language by armchair authorities who spread misinformation and can cause harm. These trends show both beneficial destigmatization and harmful overcorrection that enables misleading fads and unregulated wellness markets.

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