Mental Health in 2026; New Year New You or New Year Same You?
New Year Same You? Or, New Year New You? Decide what you want in 2026.
What a historically shit year for Mental Health. 2025 was hard for a lot of people. Mental Health has been consistently, and aggressively, trending worse since the creation of the iPhone and App Store, and this trend has continued to worsen through Covid, and into 2025. So.. Here are three reasons things were so bad in 2025, and three things you can do about it in 2026.
Mental Health in 2025:
1. Technology and Social Media Overstimulated the Nervous System
The human nervous system evolved for periods of stimulation followed by rest.
What it was not designed for is constant alerts, infinite comparison, algorithm-driven outrage, and 24/7 psychological availability. We cannot continue like this. People use their screen for avoidance, emotional regulation, baby-sitting their kids, and an opportunity to destroy their self-worth through comparison, or become more narcissistic through judgement of others, and relentless self portrayal of false perfection.
The result:
Chronic low-grade anxiety
Fragmented attention
Reduced emotional regulation
Increased rumination and self-criticism
Difficulty tolerating silence, stillness, or uncertainty
Many people weren’t anxious because something was wrong with them.
They were anxious because their nervous systems never got a break, and they never faced the silence they were so desperately avoiding. “The answers you seek, exist in the silence you avoid”
2. Loneliness Became the Quiet Epidemic
While we became more digitally connected, we became less relationally anchored. It turns out sending memes and videos to each other on Instagram does not replace real human touch, meaningful conversation, and vulnerability that’s met with the compassion of someone who really loves you.
The result:
Fewer people had close friendships they could rely on
Community groups, clubs, and shared rituals continued to disappear
Remote work reduced casual, low-pressure social contact
“Third places” like cafés, sports leagues, faith communities, volunteer groups are disappearing
Many people lacked socially acceptable spaces for emotional connection, with this being an especially difficult issue for men.
Loneliness is not just a feeling. Research consistently shows it is a major risk factor for depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. On top of that people experienced the worst type of loneliness; feeling alone while with people.
3. Chronic Uncertainty Kept People in Survival Mode
Human beings do well in managing stress when there is certainty around plans, end points, supports, and outcomes. It's hard to cope with stress with AI uncertainty, economic pressure, social pressure, and existential uncertainty about the state of the world while wars are happening and politicians are posting about breaking laws online.
The nervous system does not differentiate between real and anticipated threats. Prolonged uncertainty keeps the body in a low-grade fight-or-flight state.
The result:
Burnout without a finish line
Hypervigilance without clear danger
Emotional numbing and relational breakdown
A sense of helplessness and fatigue
What you can do about it in 2026:
1. Redesign Our Relationship With Technology immediately
If an alien landed on earth and watched us use our phones they would be unsure if the phone controlled the human or if the human controlled the phone. Take a break from the internet, it will be there when you get back, and nobody will notice that you were gone.
In 2026, mental health improves when:
When you can tolerate silence and "boredom," which is just code for the anxious feelings your are avoiding facing
You are intentional with your phone use and deleting apps or taking a break from things like social media does not increase discomfort for you
You are able to be present and mindful at an event, in nature, or with people, without feeling that gnawing pressure to put it on the internet
2. Rebuild Real-World Connection on Purpose
Connection no longer happens by accident. It has to be designed. Try the old fashioned way we used to do socialization; contact a friend, decide a time and location to meet in the near future, then just actually turn up. When you get there, put your phone on silent and be present.
That means:
Scheduled, recurring social rituals that go in everyone's calendar
Joining groups that meet regularly, not occasionally
Shared activity that gets you moving and connecting with people
Put effort into building community over convenient social interaction
3. Shift From Coping to Capacity-Building and Turn Down the Noise
Coping strategies help people survive. Capacity helps them thrive.
In 2026, mental health improves when the focus shifts.
When you simply prioritize the bread and butter of mental health. Sleep, diet, exercise, and quality social connection, things start to improve. Secondly, turn down the noise of the world by silencing all the notifications you can. Instead of letting the news dysregulate you at 6pm each evening when it goes “Bing!” Choose to engage with all technology at a time that works for you. When struggling with the existential uncertainty of the world, refocus on the things within your community that are directly within your control. Rent a community garden plot with someone and collaborate on controling your vegetable growth, instead of focusing on the outrage fatigue you are developing from trying to control world politics.
As humans we are not designed to live in the way that society has standardized as normal. From an emotional, physiological, and nervous system persepctive none of this is normal, or remotely healthy. Create real changes in 2026!
take the first steps today.
Connect with a therapist in Vancouver who understands your needs and take the first step toward meaningful change today.
