Of the world’s 8.3 billion people, more than 1 billion are living with mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, while there are only 13 mental health workers for every 100,000 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Mental health problems are widespread across every society and age group and place a heavy toll on individuals, families and economies.
The U.S. stress epidemic has been shaped by the aftermath of the 2020 pandemic, financial strain, political volatility, racial disparity, social anxiety and a sense of uncertainty about what lies ahead. Pinellas County and much of Florida’s Gulf Coast have experienced the added stress of dealing with the aftermath of the 2024 hurricanes that severely impacted the region. Studies released in 2024 and 2025 also found that Pinellas County residents faced significant stress from financial pressures and a shortage of mental health resources.
Dr. Jonathan Mitchell is a clinical psychologist with Florida Medical Clinic Orlando Health in St. Petersburg whose approach is geared toward helping patients build effective and sustainable strategies for health promotion, disease prevention and chronic illness self-management. He spoke with us about today’s challenges and how our bodies respond to stress.
“Our national health care system has broadly come up short on mental health care and in Pinellas County not only do we have few reliably available practitioners, but the cost is a barrier for many,” Mitchell shares. “People are struggling, the demands for service are great and the availability issue also translates to long wait times.”
According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 75% of adults in the U.S. report moderate to high levels of stress, with financial concerns, work-related pressures and health issues being primary contributors. And as news cycles, social media and social hostility keep the nervous system on high alert, many people experience stress as a continuous state rather than in occasional bursts.
So how do we fight back?
We start by paying attention to our own bodies, Mitchell offers.
“There is no way that body biology doesn’t impact our mental health. Everything is happening internally, unfolding in our mind…in our brain. It’s the way we interpret and make sense of the world,” he says. “There are two main systems that dictate this. One is the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which drives cortisol release. It puts our systems on heightened alert. This hormone gets released because it has been helpful in our survival. Our sympathetic nervous system is the way our brain communicates to other parts of our body. This is the main system associated with fight or flight response and plays in concert with the hormonal process. These interacting systems keep us in a state of being able to keep ourselves safe in the face of some kind of threat or demand.”
He points out that, for our ancestors, a realistic threat could have come in the form of a lion or bear hunting them.
“Today it’s the bills we receive, the negative interaction we had with a family member, the demands at work or a global pandemic,” he explains. “It doesn’t matter that they are not as immediately dangerous as the bear or the lion, our body sees the demand and it operates as it always has to keep us safe. And when our biology, our physiology, gets heightened for a long period of time, it gets hard to bring it back down because the brain would prefer survival over peace and calm.”
He explains that the issue many people are dealing with is that their stress is ambient rather than episodic. Ambient stress acts as a chronic, low-level background hum of modern life, driven by digital overload, uncertainty and daily hassles rather than sharp, passing episodes. Unlike acute, episodic stress, which allows for recovery periods, this persistent pressure erodes resilience, contributing to chronic stress, burnout, mental and physical health issues.
“The stressors in our life don’t end. Not in the sense that when I run away from the lion, the lion isn’t a threat anymore. This isn’t the case with our contemporary life. It’s full of demand after demand, and so our body system has to do what it does—which is to stay on high alert.”
One of the reasons we feel stressed, Mitchell asserts, is that we find ourselves in situations where we don’t have direct influence over what is happening around us.
“The uncertainty and lack of control is where we see the stress epidemic. It creates a level of worry, tension and nervousness. When we have that for a long time, our body is broken down by it, we feel depressed and unhappy and we tend to isolate,” he offers. “I think the solution is to start as close to home as possible by doing things that are fulfilling and meaningful to us, spending time with our loved ones and speaking to ourselves in kind and gentle ways—just trying to do the things we know we can control.”
Mitchell notes that people were not meant to be solitary or live in isolation, which is why forming meaningful connections is an essential part of well-being.
“We created communities, tribes and societies because it helped with our survival. We relied on each other, we sought help, affection and understanding because it made it easier to get by. That’s a big part of it—making sure we are taking care of our social well-being the same way we make sure we take our medicines, go to the doctor, get good sleep, move our bodies or drink water,” he offers. “We live so much of our lives digitally, in spaces where we are not truly connecting, so returning to a place where we come face to face with people and care for ourselves the way we care for others, that’s where the rubber meets the road.”
Intentionally prioritizing your emotional well-being is an important act of self-care and resilience. Navigating today’s health care system can feel overwhelming, but resources are available even when access is challenging. Start by talking with your primary care provider or a mental health specialist to build the support you need to thrive.
To learn more about Dr. Mitchell, visit floridamedicalclinic.com
