Abstract

Amid the current mental health crisis, the limited perspectives of psychology and medicine fail to adequately explain and treat generalized anxiety and depression. Viewing these phenomena simply as illnesses to cure conceals what underlying issue their occurrence might indicate, which I argue is the failure to properly assume moral responsibility for oneself. Borrowing from the ethical accounts of both Aristotle and Simone de Beauvoir, I suggest that the core of responsibility is the discernment of the truth of reality for oneself, so that one may choose how to act and what to believe. I propose that exploring the link between generalized anxiety and depression, and moral responsibility understood this way is a fruitful avenue for philosophy to enter the mental health discussion. If this link is viable, then the further development of one’s reasoning skills with a philosophical consultant would seem a viable alternative intervention to medication.