Many Americans Today Are ‘Losing It.’ What, Exactly, Are We Losing?

Over the past fifteen years or so, especially the past decade, many Americans’ mental health has sharply deteriorated. Study after study confirms this sad reality and affirms what many of us already sense or observe: quite a few of our fellow Americans are gradually — or sometimes rapidly — ‘losing it.’

I find this common phrase ‘losing it’ fascinating. We all assume we know what folks mean when they describe themselves or someone else as ‘losing it.’ But in these fractured, perilous times, perhaps we should look more deeply into this concept of ‘losing it’ — and (hopefully) gain some insight into what we feel we’re losing as well as what we’re actually losing.

Feelings and our factual reality may be completely aligned or very, very different. Yet, both are interconnected and important to investigate and understand… especially in how they interact and influence each other.

Our global polycrisis drives multiple forms of ‘losing it’

On the most basic level, ‘losing it’ implies that a person is losing their cool or composure and is no longer ‘in control.’ Often, people combine this idea with similar ideas like ‘cracking up’ or ‘going crazy.’ The central idea is always that one’s ego is somehow shattered or undone, so one’s ‘self-image’ and self-esteem seem to be falling apart. Worse, it can feel like one’s entire life is falling apart.

The essential element here seems to be the loss of ‘self-control’ — another fascinating (often illusory) idea, which I’ve explored in other essays. What’s usually happening, on the inside, is that our rigid, controlling ego is challenged or overwhelmed by something threatening or potentially dangerous — and then we start to freak out. If our inner freak out gets intense enough, or lasts long enough, we may believe we’re ‘losing it’ altogether.

So, what the heck is happening when large swathes of society and ever-larger groups of people seem to be freaking out and ‘losing it’? Clearly, many people are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and fearful about all the frightening trends in our society and the world around us. These include:

~ Spreading hate and misogyny.
~ Accelerating climate disruptions.
~ Intense partisan divisiveness and rage.
~ The loneliness epidemic.
~ The collapse of the middle class.
~ Living through a once-in-a-century pandemic.
~ ‘Backsliding’ democracy and rising fascism.
~ Another four years (minimum) of destructive ‘Trumpism’.
~ Mounting political violence.
~ Mounting FEAR.

Just WHO is really ‘losing it’?

Before proceeding any further, I want to clarify something crucial: in reality, most people are NOT yet freaking out or ‘losing it.’ It just seems that way because a very vocal, loud far-right minority (including DJT) is acting out and dominating the headlines and the media — and our overall society.

Sure, many people — maybe the majority — are anxious and fearful about our collective future. But only a small minority are actively trying to destabilize our government, topple our society, reinstate racism and misogyny, and support fascism and tyranny. Unfortunately, it only takes a small minority of loud, committed social arsonists to undermine and ruin life in society for everyone else. And that’s exactly what’s been happening in the U.S., more and more, under the influence of rightwing media, DJT, and MAGA.

The problem is, we’ve got tens of millions of people, now, who believe total, fabricated nonsense — manipulative lies, in other words — about our world and our society. Even worse, they simultaneously disbelieve and distrust ‘mainstream’ news, science, and once-accepted facts about life and reality. These folks — and there are many millions of them, despite being in the minority — are truly living in a paranoid, fact-free, ‘upside-down’ reality. Yet their widespread partisan lies and antisocial BS have been infecting our body politic and driving many of us to despair and hopelessness.

To be clear: this loud, aggressive minority is the primary group that’s freaking out and ‘losing it’ in the U.S. Yet, the horrible irony is that these committed ‘true believers’ don’t ever feel like they’re ‘losing it.’ Rather, they feel strong and powerful because they ‘know’ they possess the ‘real truth’ and are eager to undermine, destroy, and replace our current society. Worse, they are factually much stronger today and hold many positions of power.

Such ‘true believers’ are, and have always been, among the most dangerous human beings. They are incredibly destructive. Yet, they always believe they’re on the side of ‘righteousness’ and are doing great and beneficial things.

They are utterly self-deluded.

Coping with our vicious ‘upside-down’ reality

Where does this leave us? It leaves us stuck in a dreadful ‘upside-down’ reality, where decent, compassionate folks are spiraling down into fear and despair — while a minority of bad actors and racist ‘true believers’ work feverishly to destroy any remaining social stability, take down our society… and replace it with their long-desired White Christo-fascist tyranny. All, of course, in the name of ‘truth’ and ‘freedom’!

As noted, they’re utterly self-deluded. But that doesn’t diminish the danger. Rather, it ramps up the danger and ‘anxiety factor’ exponentially because these deluded folks are neither rational nor trustworthy. And they don’t hesitate to promote or use overt violence to achieve their ends, as we recently saw in the targeted assassinations of Democratic politicians in Minnesota.

Despite all their ‘patriotic’ rhetoric, these folks do NOT have good intentions towards our society or our semi-democracy and cannot be trusted with any aspect of our government. Yet this crazed minority has been gaining ground over the past decade and is now firmly entrenched in American life and politics. They’re effectively taking over and dismantling our society and government from within.

Then of course, there’s the damned elephant in the room. We recently re-elected ‘he who shall not be named.’ Since his inauguration, many of us have been horrified by all the hatefulness, intolerance, and rampant social arsonism that he, Musk, and DOGE have unleashed over the past five months.

All of this adds up to mounting chaos, instability, and social insanity. And, it’s propelling the relatively sane majority into intensifying fear and anxiety. It’s propelling a massive national crisis and ‘freak out,’ and creating a huge tsunami of people on the edge of ‘losing it.’ It is inciting a vast surge of anger and fear — but it’s totally justified and rational fear, in this case.

But remember: the ones who are truly ‘losing it’ — and simultaneously losing their morality, caring, and conscience — are the far-right ‘true believers’ who are setting up this entire escalating disaster.

A devastating societal chain reaction is in motion

This last statement needs fleshing out. One thing I’ve noticed, again and again over the past decade, is that far-right media, along with Trump and MAGA, have been steadily and purposely fomenting rage, social hysteria, and intense partisan hatred. They are acting in bad faith, using our vaunted freedoms (such as ‘free speech’) against us, and willfully undermining our society and our semi-democracy. And this, in turn, has led to a vast increase in Americans’ overall anxiety and fear levels and a corresponding vast decrease in our mental health.

Some psychologists and therapists might dispute what I’m saying here, but the evidence is staring us in the face: rightwing media, MAGA, Trump, and most of the Trump-’owned’ GOP constantly push — very successfully — to gin up White rage, racism, anti-immigrant sentiment, misogyny, and hatred of LGBTQ+ folks, Democrats, and ‘libtards.’

Scarily, their anti-democratic, often antisocial efforts have been paying off and have set off a societal chain reaction throughout our society. It’s a drastic chain reaction of mounting social hysteria, fear, and rage — and like any chain reaction, it builds on itself, spreads, and multiplies. And that’s exactly what these far-right bad actors, and Trump himself, always depend on. They want this horrific chain reaction to grow, spread, and get totally out of control — because this furthers their despotic, tyrannical agenda.

That is, they want people to become increasingly unhinged, fearful, and angry — and then seek comfort and ‘order’ in the eager embrace of Trump and other wannabe dictators (although, the thousands of ‘No Kings’ demonstrations on June 14 show that the far-right’s despotic overreach may be backfiring).

It’s all quite intentional. It’s perverse and endlessly bizarre. Yet, it’s sold as the only real truth and the only true picture of American society. It’s sold as the best and only way to rally the (White) citizenry and ‘save our nation.’

Enacting the autocratic dictators’ playbook

In reality, it’s just the tyrant’s and dictator’s handbook in action. It’s the anti-democratic playbook of every autocrat and wannabe dictator.

It’s quite simple, really: undermine society, feed people’s fear, reject truth and science and the free press, keep undermining and challenging everything — and watch gleefully as peoples’ fear, anxiety, and anger spiral out of control.

Then, sit back and watch the social fireworks multiply as ever-growing numbers of people ‘lose it,’ take to the streets or online ‘public square,’ and start spreading hate, vitriol, and violence-inciting rhetoric. Soon, they’re busy doing all your social demolition work for you — and your task is nearly complete.

The only thing left, then, is for widespread civil conflict to break out and for society and the government to collapse into total dysfunction. This final stage of social collapse will allow the triumphant far right and Christo-fascist hordes to swoop in (or so rightwing thinking goes) and finish the job of remaking the U.S. in their own hateful, intolerant image.

We’re losing far more than our mental balance

Due to all the pressing, seemingly insoluble issues listed above — and others I didn’t even mention — an ever-popular coping mechanism is now even more popular and is spreading like wildfire. I’m talking about denial.

Denial is a primitive, simplistic coping mechanism — but it works… temporarily. It can help us ‘cope,’ get through our daily lives, and even experience brief periods of happiness. But naturally, there’s a big problem with widespread denial. More than one problem, really — since it’s a major precursor to ‘losing it.’

First, when we’re busy avoiding or denying social or ecological realities we need to deal with, nothing changes for the better, nothing gets done, and the same patterns or problems just get worse. It’s basic escapism and avoidance. But in the long run, it’s incredibly damaging and destructive.

Second, all the pressing social, ecological, and political realities we’re so busily denying and avoiding get shoved into dark, semi-conscious corners of our minds. But, they’re always lurking there and never truly go away. Rather, they’re like nasty, vicious gremlins, hiding out in the shadows and occasionally leaping out to gnaw at and devour us.

Sure, our denial and avoidance let us ‘enjoy life’ — sort of, and temporarily. However, all those nasty gremlins are just waiting for a moment of despair, exhaustion, or weakness to pounce and rev up our fear and anxiety again.

In truth, denial and avoidance are lousy coping mechanisms and are guaranteed to lead to even more fear and anxiety — and worse consequences — down the road. And, that’s yet another reason Americans’ mental health is in the toilet. Mass denial (of climate change, election results, etc.) is the final straw in a vast pile of social and political craziness that is driving people nuts and pushing us ‘over the edge.’

Scarily, if enough Americans ‘lose it’ and lose themselves to far-right madness, we will collectively lose all that we hold dear: our freedom, our rights, a functional natural environment, and our multi-cultural ‘liberal democracy.’ We stand to lose everything vital that makes up or flows from modern civilization.

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This post was previously published on This America.

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