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Here's what we observe from our respective practices: The pace of life has accelerated to a level beyond that to which most of us can fully adapt. The result is a series of negative feedback loops that, left untended, can quickly spiral out of control. To wit:

 

* We exist with a constant buzz of worry and anxiety that we're not doing everything we're supposed to be doing.

* This creates a negative feedback loop in which we can't get things done because we're anxious, and our inability to get things done makes the list grow and grow, leaving us ever more anxious.

* All this anxiety also makes us seek distractions (Facebook or Netflix, anyone?), making it harder to be present for others, hurting our relationships. As we become isolated, we tend to become depressed, and this, too, makes it harder to get stuff done...leading to more anxiety.

* When it comes time to make a decision, reaching any decision becomes difficult, whether it's "Should I stay in this job?" or "Where should we go on summer vacation?" or even "What should we do for dinner tonight?" We can't quite seem to figure out how to weigh our options. And so the deal doesn't get done, vacations aren't taken, and dinner is last minute and stressful.

For the past two to three decades, professionals have focused on stress. We've been recommending stress management, a healthier lifestyle, medications, and in some cases, psychotherapy to help our clients and patients get back on their feet.

But it turns out this approach is only symptom management.

There is a bigger problem.

THE CRITICAL ROLE OF HUMAN AGENCY

What we're witnessing in our practices, and indeed across every spectrum of the human experience, is an increasing number of people who have lost their ability to adapt to stress—with the result that they lose the ability to direct their lives. Psychologists refer to this as a loss of agency. Agency is what allows you to pause, evaluate, and act when you face a challenge—be it at work, home, or anywhere else in the world.

Agency is about being active rather than passive, of reacting effectively to immediate situations and planning effectively for your future. When you become too overwhelmed and lose your agency, you can no longer evaluate your circumstances, reflect on the challenges and opportunities you're confronted with, make creative decisions, and then act in ways that open up possibilities for a meaningful life on your own terms.

In simpler words, agency is what humans have always used to feel in command of their lives. With it, people are able to live in ways that reflect their interests, values, and inner motivations. Building agency is central to what therapists and consultants like us do in helping people improve their lives, and it has been debated and written about by mental health scholars for years.

And yet only recently has it begun to penetrate the popular consciousness as essential for coping with the obstacles that life throws our way and building a healthy fulfilling life. Its erosion is linked directly to the crisis levels of anxiety we see in current times, for physiological reasons we'll get to below, and because when we don't have agency, problems fester, and plans don't get made, leaving us with a constant sense of worry about the things that aren't getting done and the impending consequences of inaction.

According to data from the World Health Organization, the United States has been ranked as the most anxious nation on earth, with at least one in five—a full forty million Americans—currently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. Many more people are hovering just beneath that clinically diagnosable line, absorbing and carrying around unhealthy amounts of tension, worry, and fear, which produce more distraction, restlessness, and fatigue.

And then there's the destructive physical process set off by uncontrolled anxiety. Researchers know that at the cognitive and biological level, intense and chronic emotions such as fear and worry interrupt people's healthy, normal thinking skills. In these moments, a chemical reaction occurs in the brain that disconnects people from fully employing their critical-thinking skills and navigating thoughtfully toward better options and solutions. We've all experienced this. The more upset we are, the less we can stay calm and act deliberately. When being upset, stressed out, and worried becomes chronic, people often become exhausted and just want to give up and stop trying. Biologists use the term allostatic overload to describe this type of problem. In short, exposure to ongoing high angst wears down the body's normal ability to adapt and adjust, and it can sever the connection to the mental skills people rely upon to regulate their mood and make good decisions. Adrenaline is part of this, chemically speaking, but it's the buildup of cortisol—the primary stress hormone left in adrenaline's wake—that builds up, and we need to keep a closer eye on. It causes long-term physical damage to the body. It can also leave us experiencing anxiety and depression, which only further dismantles effective thinking.