Mal Fletcher comments on the rise of anxiety disorders and an over-reliance on science

New technologies and techniques for disease eradication may bring about unforeseen negative side effects.

This is not to say that we shouldn't invest in those techniques - far from it. We must take advantage of every reasonable possibility to end human suffering. But we must do so in an ethical way, keeping an eye on the difference between progress and progressivism.

The latter idolises pragmatism; it says, 'If a thing can be done it should be done.' It has little time for ethical debate or considered deliberation on what progress really means, in any holistic sense.

For progressivism, achieving pragmatic results in isolated, individual processes is the only measure of success. Their consequences in other areas of life are not considered.

A culture of over-prescribing drugs, particularly for problems arising from anxiety and depression, will continue as long as we place the expedient of the immediate fix above long-term healing.

In the end, psychological and emotional wellbeing are not primarily found within the purview of the medical profession. They are not achieved with the help of science alone.

The sooner we can wean ourselves off an overwhelming reliance on pure science, the sooner we might be able to see our way clear to other important solutions for the psyche and the soul.