Today, there are between 10,000 and 20,000 mental health apps. In the U.S. alone, there are 1.2 million mental health providers. It’s now safe to say we’ve never been more aware of mental health. And yet, as awareness of mental health has gone up, the state of our mental health has gone down. There are many reasons why these are particularly challenging times: Natural disasters are intensifying, chronic diseases continue to climb, and AI is driving fear and anxiety about all aspects of life. But beyond the circumstances of the times we’re living in lies a more complicated existential crisis. Neglecting the truth that we’re more than material beings and have a fundamental need for spirituality means that we lack the supporting framework needed to handle the anxieties of this historic moment of disruption. In fact, studies show that spirituality can help us not just weather times of crisis but even emerge stronger than before. “The practice of religion, as opposed to its theological underpinnings, offers an impressive, time-tested array of psychological technologies that augment our biology,” writes David DeSteno, psychology professor at Northeastern University and author of How God Works: The Science Behind the Benefits of Religion. “To ignore that body of knowledge is to slow the progress of science itself and limit its potential benefit to humanity.” And people are hungry for a more awakened life. While religious affiliation has been dropping for decades, the spiritual impulse hasn’t. A recent U.S. Gallup poll found that 82% consider themselves religious, spiritual, or both. People have had valid reasons for leaving organized religion, but when we reject our innate predisposition for spirituality along with that, we deny ourselves the full, expansive possibilities of our humanity — as well as the tools to navigate the labyrinths of our lives. You can read more in my latest piece in @TIME: