Why Americans Are Burned Out: The US Mental Health Crisis and How South Brazil Offers a Reset

The United States is in the grip of a mental health emergency unlike anything in modern history. More than 60 million American adults — nearly one in four — experienced a diagnosable mental illness in 2024. And yet, most of them never received treatment. For millions of Americans, the question is no longer "how do I get better?" It is "how do I get out?"

The Numbers Tell a Devastating Story

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), 23.4% of U.S. adults experienced any mental illness in 2024 — equivalent to 61.5 million people. That is more than one in five adults. A separate Johns Hopkins study found that nearly one in ten adults (8.9%) reported an outright mental health crisis in the past year, with young adults aged 18–29 reaching a staggering 15.1% crisis rate.

Antidepressant use tells an equally stark story. A 2026 study published in BMJ Mental Health found that 16.6% of American adults are currently taking antidepressants. The proportion taking anxiety medications jumped from 11.7% in 2019 to 14.3% in 2024 — a 22% increase in just five years. The American Psychological Association's 2025 Stress in America report found that 69% of adults cited the spread of misinformation as a major source of stress, and political division, economic anxiety, and social isolation ranked as the top three stressors for the third consecutive year.

Why Is America So Mentally Unwell?

The causes are structural, not personal. Americans work more hours than citizens of any other developed nation. The average American worker takes fewer vacation days than workers in Europe, Japan, or Brazil. Healthcare costs — including mental healthcare — are prohibitively expensive, with the average therapy session costing $100–$200 without insurance. Social isolation has reached epidemic levels: the U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health crisis in 2023, noting that Americans have fewer close friends and spend less time in community than at any point in recorded history.

Add to this the relentless news cycle of mass shootings, political chaos, economic anxiety, and the daily stress of navigating a society that feels increasingly fractured — and it becomes clear why Harvard researchers found that poor mental health days among U.S. adults rose from 35.7% in 2011 to 42.5% in 2022, a trend that has continued upward since.

What We Found When We Moved to South Brazil

When Cecilia and I moved to Florianópolis, we were not running from something — or so we told ourselves. But within three months of living on the beaches of South Brazil, we realized how much chronic low-grade stress we had been carrying without knowing it. The kind of stress that becomes background noise. The kind you only notice when it stops.

Brazil has its own challenges — no country is perfect. But the texture of daily life here is fundamentally different. People move slower. Meals are longer. Neighbors actually talk to each other. The beach is five minutes away, and people use it — not as a vacation, but as a Tuesday afternoon. The culture here is built around connection, food, and presence in a way that the US simply is not.

Brazil's depression rate, while not negligible, is significantly lower than the United States on a per-capita basis when adjusted for treatment-seeking behavior. More importantly, the social determinants of mental health — community connection, time in nature, physical activity, affordable healthcare, and financial security — are dramatically more accessible in South Brazil than in most American cities.

The Cost of Mental Healthcare: US vs. Brazil

In the United States, a single therapy session averages $150–$200 out of pocket. Many Americans wait months for an appointment. In Brazil, the public healthcare system (SUS) provides free mental health services to all residents, and private therapy sessions in Florianópolis average the equivalent of $30–$50 USD. Psychiatric consultations are similarly affordable. The financial barrier to getting help — one of the primary reasons Americans go untreated — is largely removed.

A Fresh Start Is Not a Cliché

There is a reason the phrase "fresh start" resonates so deeply with Americans considering a move abroad. It is not about escaping responsibility. It is about removing yourself from an environment that is actively working against your mental health — the noise, the pace, the cost, the fear — and replacing it with one that supports it.

The beach does not cure anxiety. But waking up to the sound of waves instead of traffic, eating fresh food instead of processed food, walking to the market instead of driving to a big-box store, and living in a community where people still sit on their porches and talk — these things matter. The research on social connection, nature exposure, and physical activity as mental health interventions is overwhelming. South Brazil provides all three, at less than half the cost of living in the United States.

Sources

1. 1. NAMI — Mental Health By the Numbers 2024, nami.org
2. 2. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health — Mental Health Crisis Hits Nearly 1 in 10 U.S. Adults, 2025
3. 3. BMJ Mental Health — Antidepressant use among American adults, Perlis et al., 2026
4. 4. KFF Health News — As More Americans Embrace Anxiety Treatment, Feb 2026
5. 5. American Psychological Association — Stress in America 2025: A Crisis of Connection
6. 6. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health — Mental health declined among U.S. adults from 2011 to 2022, Jan 2025