Feeling Down? An exploration of the therapeutic turn in society.

The NHS recently suggested that nine million people should seek therapy for anxiety, or other mental health conditions, so they can get back to work.

Do such suggestions mean we are just more sensitive to psychological issues or is there something darker behind the therapeutic turn in society? A cynic might suggest that more useful, well-paid, and attractive jobs would encourage people to return to work.

Over the last two decades there have been major concerns with self-esteem, resilience, emotional intelligence, emotional literacy, happiness, wellbeing, mental health, and compassion. Many of these focussed on children and young people. They spawned a therapeutic industrial complex made up of professional, and amateur, therapists who promote a myriad of inventions in education and the workplace.

The effect of these interventions is that many people now feel they can’t cope and need therapeutic help, for example, between 2022 and 2025 over seven million people sought help from NHS talking therapies alone.

Are we pathologising normal emotional responses to growing up and everyday life, or is it harder than ever for people to survive in the modern world?

Dennis Hayes, co-author of the best-selling and controversial book , will discuss the origins of what is often called ‘therapy culture’ or ‘victimhood culture’ and its consequences for all of us.

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Host or Publisher East Midlands Salon