Do you think modern society is creating the modern mental health crisis itself?

[stephenMM]

I think the op's title could be backwards. It's probably more accurate to say that people w/ mental health problems are creating the society that we live in. There is no such thing as a human society w/o people in it, and the people in society are responsible for how that society functions.

Of course, as my Zen teacher used to say, all this is optional. We don't have to go along w/ a crazy society, and not everyone in a crazy society is crazy. Just follow our own path and look for others that share our ideas.

It helps a great deal to stop watching the news and reading the newspapers. Right this minute it's quiet where I live and the weather has turned warm and pleasant. I'm listening to Dire Straits and life is pretty darned good. All these wars that are going on are not here. The violence in societies and the insane political climate are also not here. But if we let those things get into our minds it will destroy our inner peace.

I'm not recommending living w/ our heads in the sand, but its helpful to focus on our own goals and interests and pay attention to what is important in our own lives. Let go of events that we have no control over. Take a walk, talk to a friend, sip a good cup of coffee, just breathe and let go of all that chatter. It isn't us, and we have the freedom and power to make sure it doesn't become us. Getting caught up in all that toxicity is optional, we don't have to do it.