Mental Health Inc.

An eye-opening investigation into the lucrative new business of feeling better. We’re in a mental health crisis. Globally, rates of mental illness are climbing and in the UK, half of us will experience mental health issues at least once in our lifetimes. In response to this, a new, mostly unregulated and multi-billion-pound industry has emerged. It promises fast solutions in the form of therapy influencers, spiritual retreats, therapy apps and biohacking devices. With traditional routes to care increasingly difficult to access, we’re turning in droves to the glittering offerings of Mental Health Inc. and its promises of healing. But is it all smoke and mirrors? Can some of it genuinely help us, or is our perpetual search for a cure only making us feel worse? In this gripping investigation, psychotherapist Annie Zimmerman enters the dizzying world of alternative mental health care in search for healing – and answers – of her own. She tries AI therapy, life coaching workshops and psychedelic treatments, and asks what happens when our emotional wellbeing becomes a commodity. The result is a revelatory exposé of an industry built on our deepest vulnerabilities, uncovering the hidden commercial incentives reshaping the way we understand distress, healing and even ourselves.