Good question, although one that has a complex answer. However, I will do my best. 

First, I would say it starts in the family environment. Most parents are not trained to holistically raise their children (physical, emotional, and spiritual). They have allowed the state to dupe them into state propaganda which is antithetical to holistic intelligence. Moreover, parents really can't find good practical help in understanding how their child's world works (their thoughts and emotions). Additionally, with parents, they are ever increasing in their busyness throughout the day, as the fiat system is designed to always require more labor to uphold the basic needs of a family.

Second, a lot of us (and to your original note) do not want to take responsibility for our own actions. 

Third, too much inauthentic stimulation. Social media, fear prorogation, and unhealthy foods and water.

To combine it all, we have not had the best parenting, which creates the symptoms of abdication of our responsibility while the state socially engineers our environment around us to pull us away from authenticity from ourselves and Nature.  

 Yeah but that was true a generation ago as well and the rates of mental illness aren’t as high as they are now. 

 I wonder about medication through psychiatry also. Seems like that is an underappreciated risk factor for some people, as many medications have side effects that are unpleasant and even harmful. 

And might it be true that finding a good psychologist is like finding a good teacher is like finding a good guru is like finding a good investment advisor, there are a whole bell curve of possibilities and everyone is looking for the right tail? 

 Many of the medications just straight up don’t work either. I would say most of them. “Chemical Imbalance” is bullshit.