Mental Health Science Under Threat: Confronting Crises and Reclaiming Purpose

Recent times have witnessed an escalation of social instability and policy directives that pose a crisis to mental health sciences. We are forced – but also afforded the opportunity – to pause and consider how best to move forward with purpose. Important questions include whether mental health science can progress orthogonal to politics in a time of rising fascism; whether institutions of higher education will fight to defend scientists and academic freedoms; and whether mental health interventions can be meaningfully delivered in contexts of escalating social instability. This paper raises these questions with an eye forward to suggest how such crises may also present critical opportunities to reshape our science toward greater relevance, resilience, and responsibility. We conclude by suggesting that mental health sciences must not only reckon with these realities but also reimagine our role in advancing our work under such conditions.