Mental illness has always existed, but years ago no one ever talked about it. If you had someone in your family who "wasn't right" you never said anything, just sent them away, and very often the way mentally ill people were treated was absolutely draconian.

May I posit a trinity? Emotionally speaking I think three things are necessary to keep one functioning, humour, compassion and ambition. I think this is a more useful metric for us laymen than id, ego and superego.

I think many of the terrible things that go on are themselves symptoms of the root cause, which is greed. Greed has been promoted by capitalist governments (ie, all of them; some - such as North Korea - pretend to be different but are actually only favouring an even smaller elite group than openly capitalist governments) which are fully signed-up to the "growth at all costs" philosophy; this causes inequality, environmental destruction and the loss of community, all of which lead to anger, resentment, further need, displacement and violence on both an international and personal scale.

All the negativity in the news can certainly be depressing. For me, reading a lot of political posts on Facebook can upset me a great deal sometimes and cause me to slip into a state of depression. I feel better when I just skip most of the political posts on FB.

"What are the causes of mental illness? Although the exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, it is becoming clear through research that many of these conditions are caused by a combination of biological, psychological, and environmental factors.

"Some mental illnesses have been linked to abnormal functioning of nerve cell circuits or pathways that connect particular brain regions. Nerve cells within these brain circuits communicate through chemicals called neurotransmitters. "Tweaking" these chemicals -- through medicines, psychotherapy or other medical procedures -- can help brain circuits run more efficiently.

"In addition, defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain have also been linked to some mental conditions." ("Causes of Mental Illness," Web MD.)

"Major mental disorders traditionally thought to be distinct share certain genetic glitches, according to a new study. The finding may point to better ways to diagnose and treat these conditions.

"Scientists have long recognized that many psychiatric disorders tend to run in families, suggesting potential genetic roots. Such disorders include autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depression and schizophrenia. Symptoms can overlap and so distinguishing among these 5 major psychiatric syndromes can be difficult."

(National Institutes of Health, "Common Genetic Factors Found in Five Mental Disorders." )

[nih.gov]

I stopped watching the news years ago for this reason. I found co-workers will keep me in the loop on the important stuff. I can look up information I’m interested in.
I don’t know that the (feels like) constant negativity causes mental illness but I feel sure it doesn’t help.

you should pass on your insight to the surgeon general,

I agree. News and social media are toxic. Everything is "Reality TV" as if they want us to think this is normal. It's not. People imitate what they see and hear, and then there is drugs! If it isn't meth it's some opiod.
What do we do? IDK. The war on drugs was just something about controlling who made the money. Like everything else, forms of insanity come quicker these days.

The news seem to be almost all negative. If it’s positive it’s just not worth broadcasting so yes it’s very depressing to watch the news. Not sure if that’s causing mental problems or not but it’s definitely depressing so I suppose it could.

I think we've created a society so relentlessly stressful and demanding that trying to maintain one's mental health has become a struggle. You put a human being under the endless pressure of work, home, money, career, politics, relationships, etc... it's bound to wear down most any man or woman over time and it just keeps getting worse and more complicated as time goes on.

It is because we poison our environment with garbage and soot and chemicals.

All the information we take in has an impact, I think. I personally sometimes make the decision to avoid regular news and seek out more uplifting news.