There is something profoundly disconcerting about the state of our current culture, and it is this: we seem to have collectively decided that the mentally ill should dictate our cultural norms and political platforms. This is not an idle observation or a mere rhetorical flourish; it is a documented reality, one that ought to give us all pause.
Recently, it was reported that a startling 56 percent of liberal American women aged 18-29 have been diagnosed with a mental-health condition. This is a figure so staggering that it should have led to a national conversation about the causes of this mental health crisis and what can be done to address it. Instead, we have done something far more dangerous: we have begun to allow the mentally ill to shape the direction of our society.
The Misguided Validation of Delusion
There is a cruel irony in all of this. Mental illness is, by definition, a state of being in which one’s perception of reality is distorted or impaired. Those who suffer from mental illness are in need of compassion, care, and, most importantly, treatment. They do not need—and should not be given—validation for the delusional ideas that their illness provokes. Yet, in our misguided quest for inclusivity and understanding, we have done exactly that. We have taken the cries of distress, the casting of blame, and the broadcasting of misery by those who are mentally unwell, and we have elevated them to the status of cultural wisdom.
This is not compassion; it is cruelty masquerading as kindness. It is not understanding; it is the abdication of responsibility. The mentally ill need help, not obedience. They need to be gently but firmly guided back to a healthier state of mind, not indulged in their delusions. Yet we have allowed ourselves to be led by those who are, by their own admission, lost and struggling to find their way. We have allowed their confusion to become our guiding light, and their despair to set the tone for our cultural discourse.
The Wretched Path of Self-Destruction
It is important to recognize that the misery expressed by those who are mentally ill is often a reflection of the choices they have made and the paths they have followed. This is not to say that they are to blame for their illness—mental health is a complex and multifaceted issue—but it is to say that the decisions we make in life have consequences. When one chooses to reject the healthy, the beautiful, and the true, and instead pursues folly and delusion, the result is often unhappiness, emptiness, and despair.
The liberal American women aged 18-29 who have been diagnosed with mental-health conditions are, in many cases, the product of a culture that has told them to prioritize self-expression over self-discipline, to value feelings over facts, and to seek validation in all the wrong places. They have been encouraged to see themselves as victims, to blame their unhappiness on external forces, and to demand that society change to accommodate their distress. But the truth is that the path they have been encouraged to follow is one that leads not to fulfillment, but to ruin.
The Need for a New Standard
It is time to recognize that we have made a grave mistake. We have allowed the mentally ill to set our cultural norms and political platforms, and the result has been a society that is increasingly fragmented, confused, and unhappy. We must reject this path and instead strive to make the healthy, the beautiful, and the true our standard.
This does not mean that we should abandon those who are struggling with mental illness. On the contrary, we should redouble our efforts to provide them with the care and support they need. But we must stop allowing their illness to dictate the direction of our society. We must stop validating their delusions and start helping them to see the world as it truly is.
The healthy, the beautiful, and the true have always been the foundations of a good and just society. They are the standards by which we should measure our lives and our culture. When we elevate the ill, the ugly, the ruined, and the hopeless, we do not create a more inclusive or compassionate society; we create a society that is lost and adrift, unable to distinguish between right and wrong, truth and falsehood, beauty and ugliness.
Conclusion: Reclaiming Sanity
We must reclaim our sanity. We must stop allowing those who are mentally ill to set the agenda for our culture and our politics. We must return to the standards that have sustained civilization for millennia: the pursuit of health, beauty, and truth. This is not a rejection of those who are suffering, but an affirmation of the values that can lead them—and all of us—back to a better, more meaningful life.
The mentally ill deserve our compassion, but they do not deserve the reins of our society. To hand those reins over to them is to ensure that we all follow them down a path of misery and despair. Instead, let us gently guide them back to health, while we, as a society, reaffirm our commitment to the principles that have always made life worth living.