Stress, Systems, and Survival: Mental Distress through an Evolutionary and Societal Lens

An exploration of mental distress as an adaptive survival response shaped by evolutionary biology, social structures, and ecological conditions—challenging symptom-focused models of mental health care.

Dr. Leslie Solomonian, ND

Abstract

This article examines rising rates of mental distress through the lens of evolutionary stress biology and modern social, economic, and ecological systems. It argues that anxiety, depression, and burnout are often rational survival responses to chronic unsafety and calls for radical, root-oriented healing approaches that extend beyond individual-level interventions.

Intro

Rates of anxiety, depression, and addiction have risen globally to unprecedented levels,1 particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic.2 Many people struggle with social isolation, fear, and hopelessness, and a lack of adequate support from systems poorly equipped to respond. While medications and lifestyle interventions can help, they largely address symptoms. The deeper causes of distress are structural, social, and ecological. Psychological suffering is not a sign of personal malfunction but often a natural response to a world misaligned with what humans need to thrive.

Conceptualization of Stress and Mental Health

The term stress, first described by Hans Selye, referred to a “general adaptation response” in which organisms mount a physiological reaction to perceived threat.3 The “general unsafety theory” argues this response is our neurological default, inhibited by a perception of safety.4 When safety is lacking, pathways that enable survival are disinhibited. The outcome is mediated by several factors: the nature, intensity, duration, frequency of the perceived threat, and the individual’s capacity to return to a sense of safety. 

Threats to safety can be understood as unmet biological, environmental, and psychosocial needs (e.g. Murray,5 Maslow – a misappropriation of Siksika Ways of Knowing – 6 and Rosenberg7). Autonomic survival pathways have changed little in millions of years; the world around us has. Whether facing a predator or a stressful email, the body reacts through the same fight, flight, freeze or fawn mechanisms.8 Adaptive in transient crises, these pathways become maladaptive when persistently disinhibited. The consequence is allostatic load: the cumulative burden that disrupts regulation.9 

Mental health struggles are a common outcome of persistent disinhibition of stress-response mechanisms.10,11 The anti-psychiatry movement critiques pathologization of these psychological and behavioral survival strategies, emphasizing as Szaz wrote in 1960, that they reflect the “arduous process of living.”12 From this perspective, mental distress is not dysfunction, but evidence of a person’s body’s attempt to cope with unrelenting pressures. 

Lazarus and Folkman described an individual model of coping that resembles a stretched elastic band.13 One end represents needs; the other represents perception of current conditions. The more tension, the greater the experience of unsafety, or stress. Like a taut elastic band provides energy and direction, moderate tension motivates growth. When the band is stretched too far, too frequently, or for too long, it snaps or loses its resilience. This is distress. Lazarus and Folkman proposed that tension could be reduced by addressing unmet needs, or by regulating the difficult emotions the tension creates. 

Social, Economic and Ecologic Determinants of Psychologic Distress

Contemporary scholarship, however, shows that determinants of resilience are more complex, shaped by genetic, cultural, relational and environmental factors.14 Although stress is an internal experience, its origins are profoundly social.15 Scholars that study the impact of economies on health argue that capitalism creates and perpetuates the conditions of human distress.16,17 By glorifying productivity, competition, and individualism, it frames rest as laziness, and equates self-worth with output. Humans are biologically inclined toward ancestral conditions—natural light, quiet, community, and free access to water and vegetation.18,19 Urbanization isolates individuals from ecological and communal supports, instead offering noise, light, and pollution that create conditions of chronic arousal.20 Loneliness – a major determinant of health – is widespread.21 Social media use contributes to this loneliness and distress for many, although mindful use may offer some benefits.22 

In capitalist systems, individuals bear responsibility for their well-being even as the system deprives them of time, security, and connection. The commodification of food and healthcare systems forces people to expend greater effort to meet basic needs. Marketing and cultural norms distort perceptions of what is necessary for safety,23 promoting coping strategies that rely on consumption, distraction or avoidance,24 behaviors that worsen mental health and fuel ecological degradation,25 itself a major driver of psychological distress. Genuine environmental unsafety – floods, droughts, extreme heat, violence, forced migration and rupture of relationships with land and family – creates direct threats.26 For those shielded from immediate direct impacts, due to access to environmental, economic and social resources, awareness of climate breakdown and its effects triggers anxiety, grief and paralysis, extensions of ancient survival mechanisms.27 

Although these determinants affect everyone, the burden is inequitably distributed, both locally and globally. Capitalism, racism, sexism, classism, ableism, and other systems of oppression create chronic conditions of threat and instability for marginalized individuals and communities,28 resulting in inequitable prevalence of mental health challenges.29 Food, housing and healthcare insecurity are existential threats consistently correlated with poor mental health.30,31,32 Economic inequity – a necessary requirement of capitalism33,34 – is the most significant predictor of poor health outcomes globally,35 leading to inadequate access to basic needs such as clean water, and natural spaces, inadequate idle time for rest and creativity, separation from loved ones and land through forced migration or incarceration. Those with relative financial privilege have greater access to mitigating resources – including naturopathic care – while marginalized groups are least able to access care.36 Daily experiences of discrimination require constant vigilance,4,37 activating the same pathways that evolved to protect against physical danger. Over time, the cumulative effects of these experiences generate measurable physiological and psychological harm that span lifetimes and generations.38,39 

In stark contrast to Lazarus and Folkman’s theory, these determinants are not within the individual’s behavioral or psychological control.  

Toward Radical Healing

Naturopathic doctors offer many tools to support individuals in distress. Cognitive-behavioral therapies help reinterpret stressors and regulate difficult emotions, effectively modifying the tension within the ‘elastic band’ metaphor. Gratitude practices, mindfulness, nature and social prescribing foster a sense of safety. Adaptogenic herbs, improved nutrition, sleep, silence, and movement can bolster resilience. Yet, it is essential to remain honest and compassionate about the degree to which people and communities can actualize these strategies. Social factors shape what is possible far more powerfully than any clinical intervention; this is a key component of cultural safety. Even acknowledging a person’s efforts to survive under impossible conditions can reduce secondary distress associated with self-judgement and can support physiological repair. 

To be truly effective, we must be radical—root oriented (radix). This principle, core to naturopathic traditions, requires addressing the structural origins of distress rather than merely symptoms. Treating mental health struggles in isolation from their social and ecological contexts is like pruning the leaves of a diseased plant while ignoring the contaminated soil. Naturopathic doctors understand this, yet much of the profession still emphasizes individual solutions. This, in many ways, reflects our own survival strategies within the systems we critique. What role can we play in healing the soil? 

The excellent article by Mezzina et al outlines an action plan to address, “the need for fundamental change by focusing on social determinants and achieving equity in mental health care.”40 They offer a multi-tiered strategy that is implementable at the local level, with an emphasis on addressing social determinants, centering the voices of those affected, and seeking to destigmatize mental health struggles. Supporting communities through adequate funding for local, culturally-grounded strategies are critical steps.41 

Conclusion

The global epidemic of mental illness reflects a profound dissonance between human biology and modern social organization. Humans evolved communities rooted in reciprocity, and connection with the natural world. Evolutionary mechanisms that once safeguarded survival now generate widespread suffering within systems demanding constant competition, vigilance, productivity, and separation from that which promotes good health. Both human and planetary resilience are stretched beyond their limits.

Restoring balance requires more than individual interventions. Radical healing requires systemic transformation: dismantling oppressive hierarchies, restructuring economic systems, and restoring ecological balance. The pursuit of health – now and for the next seven generations – demands that we recognize distress as a sign of system imbalance. Only by addressing the root causes—those embedded in systems of power and exploitation—can humanity hope to shift from chronic distress with collective well-being.

Reflection questions:

• Do your assessments of individuals with mental health struggles include acknowledgement of the ways in which their symptoms or behaviors reflect coping?  Do you discuss this reframing of symptoms and behaviors with these individuals?
• To what degree do your assessments explicitly identify social, economic or ecologic determinants of mental health?  If you use ICD coding, do you include codes for these determinants (Z-codes)?42  
• To what degree do your treatment plans incorporate social prescribing, or strategies to increase empowerment?
• When you vote in local elections, how much do you know about candidates’ awareness or prioritization of the economic influence on mental health? Do you prioritize voting for candidates that will support policies for social and ecological well-being?
• What is your understanding of the pathogenesis of mental health struggles? What was the framework from which you learned about these “conditions?” To what degree are these frameworks holistic? Stigmatizing?
• How do you distinguish between the concepts of charity vs. solidarity? How does this understanding translate to naturopathic practice?  To your personal role in the local or global economy?
• When you notice mental distress in yourself, what coping strategies do you use?  What emotions do you feel?  What actions do you take?  Do you turn to constructive actions that promote collective healing, or do you withdraw into distractive or avoidant behaviours?
• Given a personal reflection on your own resources, privilege, and positionality, what work is yours to do toward collective healing?

Dr. Leslie Solomonian, ND is a licensed naturopathic doctor, Associate Professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine (CCNM), and a respected clinician and educator with deep expertise in pediatrics, family medicine, and holistic care. She is the author of Naturopathic and Integrative Pediatrics and a passionate advocate for social and ecological justice, public health, and health promotion across the lifespan. Dr. Solomonian has taught clinical medicine, physical exam skills, psychology, and pediatrics at CCNM, mentoring the next generation of naturopathic physicians while advancing integrative approaches to child and family health. Her work bridges evidence-based naturopathic practice, community engagement, and systems-level thinking to support resilient individuals, families, and communities.

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