Exploring Pluralistic Ignorance, the Abilene Paradox, and the Spiral of Silence

Rates of mental illness across the Western world are surging, with young people being disproportionately impacted. From an exponential increase in referrals to pediatric gender clinics to substantial upticks in depression and anxiety diagnoses, the younger generation has never been more unhappy.

A common explanation for this phenomenon is the challenges of contemporary living. With a growing tendency towards isolated lifestyles, coupled with spending excessive amounts of time online, youth mental health is put under strain, leading to an array of mood disorders.

However, when writer Gurwinder Bhogal delved deeper into the data, he observed a peculiar trend. Liberals are more likely than conservatives to report psychological problems, and notably, a 2020 Pew survey revealed a staggering 56% of white liberal females reported receiving a mental health diagnosis. 

Why is that? Is liberalism making people sick?

Gurwinder argues that this is because central to Leftism is equality and the belief that individuals' successes and failures stem from external factors, rendering them undeserved. Present-day Leftism tends to downplay the significance of human agency while magnifying the influence of environmental circumstances. Consequently, young people are taught to view their challenges as outcomes of societal forces such as late capitalism or systemic racism, and there is now a growing inclination to attribute them to medical explanations.

This has led to what Gurwinder calls a “pathologization pandemic,” in which people, predominantly those on the left of the political spectrum, are increasingly interpreting personal issues and the normal struggles of life as medical disorders. But why are so many people on the left “confusing sadness for sickness?”