The sharp rise in anxiety and depression among adults is often framed as a legacy of the pandemic, the cost of living crisis, or the erosion of social cohesion. All of these matter. Yet they do not fully explain why psychological distress has continued to deepen even as economies recover and daily life resumes its pre crisis rhythm. A quieter force is at work, one that sits at the intersection of technology, politics and power.
Technology is no longer a tool we occasionally use. It is the environment in which much of modern life unfolds. Our relationships, news, work and sense of self are filtered through digital systems designed not for balance or wellbeing but for engagement. In this environment, mental health is not merely an individual concern. It is a structural outcome.Algorithms shape emotional exposure at scale. They decide which stories surface, which faces are admired, which conflicts are amplified. Platforms optimise for attention because attention drives revenue. What captures attention most reliably is intensity. Outrage, comparison, fear and aspiration outperform calm and nuance every time. Over months and years, this creates an ambient state of psychological arousal. For many adults, it manifests as chronic anxiety, low mood, irritability and exhaustion.
The rise in adult depression and anxiety should therefore be understood not only as a clinical trend but as a signal. It reflects the emotional consequences of living inside systems that continuously stimulate without allowing recovery. Constant alerts, infinite feeds and algorithmic ranking compress reflection and erode emotional regulation. Rest becomes something actively resisted by design.
This is where current affairs intrude. Control over data, digital infrastructure and technology standards has become a geopolitical battleground. Debates around platforms such as TikTok are usually framed in terms of national security or influence. Yet there is another dimension. These systems shape the emotional experiences of millions every day. Whoever controls the algorithm does not simply control information flows. They influence mood, perception and social norms.
This is not a conspiracy. It is an unintended consequence of scale. A change in recommendation logic can alter collective behaviour overnight. A shift in content ranking can intensify social comparison or political anxiety across entire populations. When digital infrastructure is concentrated in a handful of private companies, emotional wellbeing becomes dependent on commercial priorities set far from public accountability.
The adult mental health crisis exposes a gap in policy thinking. Regulation has focused on privacy breaches and market dominance, while overlooking psychological impact. Mental health is treated as something that happens after the fact, to be managed by overstretched health services. In reality, it is being shaped upstream by design choices embedded in everyday technology.
This does not absolve individuals of responsibility, nor does it suggest technology is inherently harmful. But it demands a more honest reckoning. A society that allows its mental environment to be governed solely by engagement metrics should not be surprised when anxiety and depression rise. The battle for data and digital power is already being fought. Its casualties are not only strategic or economic. They are emotional. If mental health continues to deteriorate, it will not be because people suddenly became more fragile. It will be because the systems surrounding them were never designed to support the human mind.
