National allostatic load in Iran: linking structural stress to population mental health

Chronic socio-political, economic and ecological stressors rarely act on individuals in isolation; they accumulate across institutions, communities and generations, shaping the mental health of entire populations. Drawing on allostatic load theory and systems neuroscience, I argue that this concept can be extended from individuals to political and institutional systems in a way that provides a mechanistic vocabulary for how structural stress destabilises population mental health. Using Iran as a case study, I outline how recurrent political crises, environmental degradation, prolonged sanctions, and scientific isolation interact to produce a state of national allostatic load (NAL). In this state, regulatory hubs weaken, defensive responses become chronically hyperactivated, and evidence-based functions including mental health research and care are progressively eroded. I propose model-based predictions linking features of NAL to rising psychiatric morbidity, service fragmentation and clinician burnout in Iran and arguably in other structurally stressed settings.