A staggering 72 percent of Gen Z now believe they have a mental illness, with more than 40 percent having received official diagnoses and 60 percent taking pharmaceutical drugs “to help manage their mental health.” These numbers, featured in a new documentary, reveal what critics are calling an industry built on pathologizing normal human behavior, according to a report from The Federalist.
“Thank You For Sharing,” the new film from director Sonia Zawitkowski, pulls back the curtain on America’s mental health machine, arguing that the alleged crisis gripping the nation is predominantly artificial. The documentary tracks how the modern field of psychiatry, originally centered on treating soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, has spiraled into a profit-driven enterprise that encourages children to take wrong-sex hormones, get hooked on SSRIs, and rebuild their entire identities around perceived illnesses.
The numbers tell a troubling story. In 1950, nearly 580,000 people, about 0.38 percent of the U.S. population, were receiving long-term hospital care for mental illness. By 2022, inpatient hospitalizations for mental health and substance abuse reached 1.65 million, or 0.5 percent of the population. But the explosion of diagnoses extends far beyond serious cases requiring hospitalization.
Throughout the film, doctors and longtime industry professionals reveal how diagnoses such as depression and ADHD became far more common once the insurance and health care system realized the massive profits available from affirming “mental illness.”
The documentary highlights how the very definition of mental illness has expanded dramatically. Industry experts interviewed in the film explain that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders cited only about 100 different disorders during its first publication. Today, it lists more than 300. The supposed symptoms have also broadened, allowing almost any human behavior to fit some criteria for diagnosis.
Recent additions to the DSM include “prolonged grief disorder” and “unspecified mood disorder.” Another new entry, “stimulant-induced mild neurocognitive disorder,” simply refers to how people who use drugs for a long time are more prone to forgetfulness. Doctors and patients alike testify in the film about how quickly many therapists and psychiatrists pathologize normal human behavior.
The transgender pipeline comes under particular scrutiny. A recent report from the Department of Health and Human Services, titled “Wolves in White Coats,” exposed how doctors and other medical professionals encourage young people to pursue transgender procedures. The Trump administration report detailed how physicians diagnose young patients with gender dysphoria, setting them on a path to “transition” that will cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars over their lifetimes. The total cost of long-term cross-sex hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries can exceed $600,000.
“Thank You For Sharing” argues that the problem isn’t that mental health doesn’t get enough attention. It’s that it gets far too much. The industry, according to the film, is extremely predatory, seeking out vulnerable people and coaxing them into believing they need treatment.
For families watching their children get swept into this system, the documentary offers a warning: the experts promising help may have their own interests at heart
