For most of the past decade, a number of editorial writers, politicians, clergy, and others have described the U.S. as a nation in a kind of crisis. Pointing to a growing number of people leaving school, living on probation, parole or in prison, victims of domestic assault or criminal, they are addicted to drugs or alcohol, which are infected with sexually transmitted disease, they are having abortions, giving birth outside marriage to be divorced, or rely on Ritalin, Prozac or Xanax for a day. They keep these statistics are evidence that something has gone terribly wrong with the American lifestyle.

As a clinical psychologist, working with people included in these figures every day of the week. Monday spoke with a man on his way to jail for writing bad checks, a middle-aged mother struggling to stop drinking herself into a stupor every night, and a woman in her twenties only recently diagnosed with herpes . Tuesday talk to a teenager dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, a parent of court ordered home after assaulting his son, and a woman in conflict about whether to end their affair. On Wednesday I meet a 11-year-old who does not cooperate with their teachers on Thursday with a woman who was devastated by the news that her husband filed for divorce to marry his girlfriend, and on Friday, a teenager who recently attempted suicide.

From this perspective, rather than numbers, the people included in the statistics are living, breathing human beings. Each has a unique history and set of circumstances, and very personal thoughts, emotions, ideals, regrets, hopes and dreams. But despite their differences, all these individuals have one thing in common: they all are, to some extent, dissatisfaction unhappy and dissatisfied with life.

Recognizing that all these people are unhappy in any way, it is possible to characterize the number of people in all statistical groups mentioned by experts as an overall measure of unhappiness in the United States. Since the total number of people in each of these groups continues to rise, it is reasonable to infer that we are in the midst of an epidemic of unhappiness. Recognizing that this nation has been designed to optimize the conditions for the pursuit of personal happiness, this epidemic of unhappiness can be known as the current crisis in the American way of life.