No Mercy / No Malice: The Cult of Therapy

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0:01:23 Paramount World.
0:01:28 We present some of the biggest stars and biggest dramas streaming on Paramount+.
0:01:30 And the nominees are…
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0:01:51 Extreme Paramount+, a mountain of entertainment.
0:01:56 I’m Scott Galloway, and this is No Mercy, No Malice.
0:02:03 America’s mental health crisis is a multidimensional challenge with multidimensional remedies.
0:02:10 However, online, all remedies lead to the same place, the same recommendation.
0:02:11 Therapy.
0:02:16 The Cult of Therapy, as read by George Hahn.
0:02:28 Don’t read the comments, I tell people, just before I have a drink and read the comments.
0:02:39 I knew my book, Notes on Being a Man, would spark controversy, as you get the most flack when you’re over the target, and some of the criticism likely misses the mark.
0:02:50 The comment that hits home, I reverse-engineer what’s worked for me, economic security, relationships, to masculinity, and don’t acknowledge other paths to fulfillment.
0:02:52 Fair.
0:02:58 Many others offered constructive criticism, and some of the criticism has merit.
0:03:06 What surprised me was how many of the commenters were therapists parroting talking points along the lines of,
0:03:10 Before anything, men must work on themselves, i.e. get therapy.
0:03:14 This is nonsense.
0:03:16 I want to be clear.
0:03:24 Therapy is a good thing, especially for the 23% of American adults who experience mental illness.
0:03:35 But mental health influencers positioned therapy as a prerequisite for a better life, rendering it a Birken bag for your feelings, i.e. a luxury good,
0:03:40 and positioned many of life’s obstacles as traumas to be addressed for $200 an hour.
0:03:43 This is a misdirect.
0:03:51 I believe America’s mental health crisis is a multidimensional problem largely shaped by economic precarity.
0:03:59 Five of the world’s 10 happiest countries are Nordic nations with strong social safety nets.
0:04:09 Costa Rica and Mexico, ranked 6th and 10th, achieve comparable happiness scores thanks to their strong family and social ties.
0:04:11 My solve?
0:04:20 A. Detonate a mental health bomb in America and invest in programs that increase material well-being.
0:04:28 A $25 an hour minimum wage, affordable housing, universal health care, and a stronger social safety net.
0:04:30 The free gift with purchase?
0:04:41 Reducing financial stress would mean Americans would worry less, socialize more, start families, and, if they struggle with mental health, pay for therapy.
0:04:56 Doctors currently believe there are 227 symptom combinations that can lead to a diagnosis of depression, but there are no blood tests or imaging scans to aid that diagnosis.
0:05:04 In an estimated 15% of cases, antidepressants provide benefits beyond the placebo.
0:05:12 Talk therapy also helps, but the range of modalities make it difficult to quantify the impact of treatments.
0:05:17 As neuroscientist Barbara K. Lipska wrote in 2018,
0:05:25 mental illness remains deeply enigmatic, its causes generally unknown, its cures undiscovered.
0:05:33 And yet, social media feeds are overrun with mental health influencers peddling therapy as the answer.
0:05:43 Writing in The New Yorker, Katie Waldman observed in 2021 that therapy speak had left the couch and conquered social media.
0:05:54 It’s only gotten worse.
0:06:02 Centering ourselves, setting boundaries, sitting with our discomfort, and being present don’t require explanation.
0:06:07 These terms are as essential to internet culture as LOL.
0:06:11 For many, this vocabulary screams privilege.
0:06:17 According to Waldman, the confessional, performative nature of social media results in
0:06:24 the language of suffering often finding its way into the mouths of those who suffer least.
0:06:31 Scaled beyond its intended domain, therapy speak is corrosive.
0:06:34 According to psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert,
0:06:39 the rise of therapy culture has turned a tool for meaningful change
0:06:45 into a comfort industry that’s making Americans sicker, weaker, and more divided.
0:06:50 We live in an era where disagreement is treated like trauma,
0:06:53 and emotional reactions are weaponized for political gain,
0:06:54 Alpert writes.
0:06:57 On social media, vulnerability is currency.
0:07:03 On TikTok, influencer therapists dish out instant validation and 30-second bursts.
0:07:07 The most anxious voices often hold the most influence.
0:07:11 Complex issues get reduced into content.
0:07:14 Millions watch, but few get better.
0:07:23 One 2022 study of mental health videos on TikTok found that 83% were misleading,
0:07:28 14% provided potentially damaging advice,
0:07:35 and only 9% were produced by content creators with relevant professional qualifications.
0:07:41 Similar to supplements, therapy is a good thing that’s easily exploited by hucksters.
0:07:45 But if supplements are a pipeline to getting red-pilled,
0:07:49 therapy culture is a sinkhole of misinformation,
0:07:54 manufactured fragility, and needless suffering.
0:07:57 I’ve had limited experience with therapy.
0:08:02 Before my divorce, my wife and I saw a couples counselor.
0:08:04 I’ve also tried ketamine therapy.
0:08:07 The session was illuminating, but I haven’t gone back.
0:08:12 There was a time when a couple in a bad marriage would have talked to a priest.
0:08:18 But the share of adults who say religion is an important part of their daily life
0:08:24 has dropped from 66% in 2015 to 49% today, according to Gallup,
0:08:27 closing off one avenue of talk therapy for many Americans.
0:08:32 Sharing your troubles with your local bartender has also fallen out of fashion.
0:08:35 Talking to your friends remains an option,
0:08:37 though friendship rates are declining,
0:08:42 with 12% of people today saying they have no close friends at all.
0:08:46 Alcohol consumption is at a 90-year low,
0:08:49 with Gen Z driving the abstinence trend,
0:08:53 robbing young people of one vital form of social lubrication.
0:08:58 I’ve been criticized for saying alcohol can be additive for many young people,
0:09:05 but the risk to a 25-year-old liver is dwarfed by the risk of social isolation.
0:09:08 If I told young people to attend church,
0:09:11 I’d likely get pushback from some quarters.
0:09:15 Meanwhile, counseling young people to invest in their fitness
0:09:20 and take social risks so they can make friends and form romantic partnerships
0:09:22 are non-starters for therapy culture,
0:09:26 unless and until you’ve had therapy.
0:09:28 We’re social animals.
0:09:32 As social connections atrophy and fray,
0:09:34 we’re becoming more anxious and depressed.
0:09:39 Therapy is an expensive band-aid for a larger problem.
0:09:42 But even taken on its own merits,
0:09:48 only 9% of Americans give the U.S. health care system a grade of A or B
0:09:51 for addressing mental illness, according to Gallup.
0:09:56 The U.S. has a shortage of mental health care providers.
0:10:02 But where some see a supply problem, I see a distribution problem.
0:10:09 Including psychiatrists, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers,
0:10:12 counselors, marriage and family therapists,
0:10:17 and advanced practice nurses specializing in mental health care,
0:10:26 there are 344 mental health practitioners per 100,000 people in the U.S.
0:10:32 We have more mental health practitioners than medical doctors,
0:10:35 297 per 100,000,
0:10:38 and five times the number of dentists.
0:10:42 According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,
0:10:46 employment for some mental health-related occupations
0:10:50 is projected to grow by 18% over the next decade,
0:10:54 faster than the 3% average for all occupations.
0:11:01 Cost is the number one barrier to accessing mental health services,
0:11:03 according to the Kaiser Family Foundation,
0:11:06 while getting time off work ranks second.
0:11:10 Stigma comes in fourth behind concerns about efficacy.
0:11:15 The two-thirds of Americans who have private insurance
0:11:18 likely have access to mental health services,
0:11:23 though one-third of therapists don’t accept insurance at all.
0:11:27 If you can swing $280 to $400 a month,
0:11:30 platforms like BetterHelp are an option.
0:11:34 Note, BetterHelp is a Prof. G podcast sponsor.
0:11:37 Meanwhile, Americans living in rural areas
0:11:40 likely can’t find a therapist at all.
0:11:42 According to one study,
0:11:45 counties outside of metropolitan areas
0:11:49 had one-third the supply of psychiatrists
0:11:51 and half the supply of psychologists
0:11:54 as their more urban counterparts.
0:11:57 People covered by Medicaid and Medicare
0:12:01 struggle to find providers that accept their insurance
0:12:03 because of the low reimbursement rates.
0:12:06 Finally, underserved groups,
0:12:08 people of color, non-English speakers,
0:12:10 and LGBTQ communities
0:12:13 often struggle to find appropriate services.
0:12:15 But if you’re wealthy,
0:12:18 therapy is as easy as reserving a space
0:12:19 at SoulCycle.
0:12:22 According to the Wall Street Journal,
0:12:24 the next big thing in luxury travel
0:12:27 is a vacation with a family therapist.
0:12:29 The price tag?
0:12:30 $80,000.
0:12:34 For everyone else,
0:12:37 AI therapy is Sam Altman’s answer.
0:12:41 Therapy companionship was the number one
0:12:44 AI use case in 2025,
0:12:46 up from number two the previous year.
0:12:50 One trial for an AI called Therabot
0:12:52 found that it achieved
0:12:55 an average 51% reduction
0:12:56 in symptoms of depression
0:13:00 and a 31% decline in symptoms of anxiety
0:13:03 compared with people who got no treatment.
0:13:05 But Celeste Kidd,
0:13:08 a psychologist at the University of California
0:13:09 at Berkeley
0:13:12 who tested another therapy AI called ASH,
0:13:16 concluded it was clumsy and unresponsive.
0:13:18 I’m bullish on AI,
0:13:19 but even if it eventually
0:13:21 outperforms human therapists,
0:13:23 I’m skeptical that big tech
0:13:25 will provide adequate guardrails.
0:13:27 See Kara Swisher’s interview
0:13:28 with the parents of Adam Rain,
0:13:31 who died by suicide at 16.
0:13:33 They’re suing OpenAI,
0:13:34 alleging that ChatGPT
0:13:36 was complicit in their son’s death.
0:13:40 No group in America
0:13:42 has fallen further faster than young men.
0:13:45 When I began talking about this
0:13:46 several years ago,
0:13:48 that was a controversial statement,
0:13:49 especially on the left,
0:13:52 where many pathologize masculinity.
0:13:54 While the right has suggested
0:13:55 the solution is to take women
0:13:57 and non-white people
0:13:58 back to the 1950s,
0:13:59 the left’s view
0:14:01 is that young men
0:14:02 don’t have problems.
0:14:03 They are the problem.
0:14:06 Neither attitude helps.
0:14:09 As the left ignores the issue,
0:14:11 the right fills the void
0:14:13 with misogyny and racism.
0:14:15 The result is that
0:14:17 a significant number of young men,
0:14:19 embracing figures like Andrew Tate
0:14:20 and Nick Fuentes,
0:14:21 swung right,
0:14:24 helping elect a strong man,
0:14:27 if strong equals corrupt and stupid.
0:14:29 To borrow from the vocabulary
0:14:31 of therapy speak,
0:14:34 young men don’t feel seen or heard
0:14:36 in spaces that are the polar opposite
0:14:37 of the manosphere.
0:14:40 Women are twice as likely
0:14:41 to receive mental health treatment
0:14:42 as men.
0:14:45 But is that a failing of masculinity
0:14:47 or the mental health profession,
0:14:49 where three-quarters of providers
0:14:50 are women?
0:14:53 Guys are built differently,
0:14:55 clinical psychologist John Farrell
0:14:57 told Monitor on Psychology.
0:14:59 They have different brains
0:15:00 and different ways
0:15:01 of being emotional.
0:15:03 Male therapists understand
0:15:04 male issues differently
0:15:05 than females do.
0:15:08 If that sounds sexist,
0:15:10 change the pronouns
0:15:11 and get back to me.
0:15:15 Therapy has a lot to offer.
0:15:17 It also has massive blind spots,
0:15:20 especially around class and gender.
0:15:22 It’s easy to sling bromides
0:15:24 about how everyone needs therapy,
0:15:25 but it’s more productive
0:15:28 to ask why therapy excludes
0:15:29 so many people
0:15:31 and too often fails
0:15:33 to help the people it does reach.
0:15:35 If you’re looking for help
0:15:36 on social media,
0:15:38 understand this.
0:15:41 Platforms and influencers
0:15:42 make more money
0:15:44 when you stay broken.
0:15:49 Life is so rich.
0:15:51 Life is so rich.
0:15:51 Life is so rich.
0:15:52 Life is so rich.
0:15:52 Life is so rich.