The World and Türkiye in 2025

Aydın Tiryaki (December 31, 2025)
(Gemini AI was used as a data compilation and writing assistant)

Abstract: The year 2025 has been a year where a new balance was sought between the speed of technological progress and the biological limits of human psychology. This article analyzes the changing forms of bonding in a digitalized world, the impact of economic challenges in Türkiye on social resilience, and the new awareness processes developed against the anxieties brought by modern life.

Introduction: Maintaining Mental Balance in the Age of Speed

As we bid farewell to 2025, the greatest endeavor for the modern individual is finding a “center” in the mental rather than physical realm. Although information pollution and economic instability strain internal balances, this situation has also provided an opportunity for the development of a collective consciousness regarding mental health. 2025 is a year in which we confront the reality that psychological health is not just a recovery process but a “conscious stance” in a complex world.

1. Global Digital Connections and New Sense of Belonging

In 2025, digitalization brought human relationships to a crossroads globally:

• Digital Tools and Awareness: Although AI-based friendship and therapy applications have become widespread, 2025 has been a year of “awakening” as people realize these tools cannot replace human interaction. Individuals now tend to use the digital world not as an escape point but as an opportunity to support their relationships in the physical world.
• Selective Connectivity: In response to the imposition of “perfect lives” on social media, 2025 saw the rise of smaller, closed, and intimate digital communities. This demonstrates how resilient the human desire for “authentic bonding” remains against the risk of loneliness.

2. Mental Health in Türkiye: Resilience and Solidarity

For Türkiye, the year 2025 has been a year where the pressure created by economic difficulties was tried to be balanced by social solidarity mechanisms:

• Social Protection Against Economic Anxiety: Although the decrease in purchasing power and future anxiety created chronic stress, Türkiye’s traditional family and neighborhood ties continued to act as a buffer against this mental wear. 2025 data indicates a process where individual helplessness is attempted to be overcome through “social solidarity.”
• The Search of the Youth: While the future expectations of the younger generation are suppressed due to economic constraints, it is observed in 2025 that the level of “psychological literacy” among youth has increased, and they are more transparent about expressing their problems compared to previous generations.

3. Coping with Modern Life’s New Anxieties

In 2025, human psychology evolved with new global topics such as the climate crisis and artificial intelligence:

• Eco-Anxiety and Responsibility: The restlessness caused by the climate crisis started to transform from a mere fear into a source of motivation in 2025, directing individuals toward a simpler and more nature-compatible lifestyle.
• From AI-Fear to Cooperation: The anxiety over technological unemployment gave way by the end of 2025 to an effort to understand the value of “human skills” (empathy, creativity, ethical reasoning) and to improve oneself in these areas.

4. Digital Transformation in Access to Therapy

While the need for mental health services increased, digital solutions to this problem developed in 2025. Online therapy platforms have reduced costs, making quality support an opportunity for wider audiences. Although the depth of face-to-face therapy is maintained, mental health support has transformed from a “taboo” into an accessible service through digitalization.

Conclusion

The data for 2025 has proven that mental health is not just an individual problem but a dynamic process shaped by environmental conditions. The future projection for 2026 suggests that the fatigue created by technological speed will be balanced by a more conscious and “slow life” culture. The vision for Türkiye in 2026 should be to build a state of well-being where social spaces that strengthen the individual’s mental resilience are multiplied despite economic constraints, and where hope is built on a rational foundation.

APPENDIX: PSYCHOLOGY, MENTAL HEALTH, AND MODERN LIFE – A CURRENT PERSPECTIVE

The year 2025 has been a period in which the World Health Organization (WHO) officially recognized the “Loneliness Epidemic” as a global health threat, revealing that one in six people struggles with chronic social isolation. The pace of modern life and the obligation of “constant availability” brought by digitalization have led to significant mental fatigue and “digital burnout” in individuals. Furthermore, the uncertainty of artificial intelligence in the labor market has begun to create deep existential anxiety (technological unemployment anxiety) regarding one’s place and sense of meaning in society, moving beyond mere economic concern.

In the specific context of Türkiye, the mental health landscape is further burdened by chronic economic pressures and future uncertainty. High living costs force individuals to sacrifice cultural and recreational activities that strengthen social bonds, leading to a prevalent “survival mode” across society. This situation has not only increased individual anxiety cases but has also lowered the general tolerance threshold, making the tension created by social polarization more permanent within the inner worlds of individuals. The “cycle of hopelessness,” particularly seen in the youth population, is one of the most significant hidden crises Türkiye must confront in the coming years.

Data from 2025 indicates that the deterioration in individual mental health has transformed into a “spiral of social violence” that directly threatens communal peace. Chronic stress and future anxiety have pushed society’s general tolerance threshold to a dangerous level; even the slightest disagreement or a simple dispute in traffic has begun to turn into uncontrolled outbursts of anger and acts of violence. This situation fuels a state of “social anomie,” where not only individuals but also the streets themselves become increasingly precarious.

Economic deprivation and the perception of social injustice are also transforming the nature of crime. As we enter 2026, it is observed that not just professional criminal organizations, but individual crimes born of “desperation” (such as theft, fraud, and extortion) are on the rise. The loss of hope among the youth to achieve prosperity through legal means has become the primary motivation driving them toward illegal structures or cybercrime networks that promise quick gains. This leads to a gradual erosion of the “sense of justice” in society and prompts individuals to seek ways to provide for their own security, further deepening social unrest.

Another dimension of this societal unrest is that domestic violence and attacks against women follow a parallel course with increasing economic pressure. The feeling of frustration and inadequacy encountered in the outside world often evolves into a “show of power” against the most vulnerable within the household. In the 2026 projection, the reality that this increase in crime rates can be solved not just through policing, but through deep social rehabilitation and fair distribution policies, is no longer a choice but a matter of social survival.

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A Note on Methods and Tools: All observations, ideas, and solution proposals in this study are the author’s own. AI was utilized as an information source for researching and compiling relevant topics strictly based on the author’s inquiries, requests, and directions; additionally, it provided writing assistance during the drafting process. (The research-based compilation and English writing process of this text were supported by AI as a specialized assistant.)