Trump’s FDA head Dr. Makary calls ‘soul care’ essential to health

President Donald Trump’s newly confirmed Food and Drug Administration Commissioner, Dr. Marty Makary, emphasized that “soul care” is an essential but often neglected part of one’s overall health, as many tend to focus more on their body’s physical needs. 

Makary addressed the issue of soul care, or one’s emotional and spiritual well-being, in his endorsement of a book published this month by Kerry Hasenbalg, The Way of Becoming: 12 Practices for a Thriving Soul. Hasenbalg is the personal soul care advisor to Makary and his wife, as well as CEO of the Becoming Foundation and co-founder of Becoming Academy.

“While many people focus solely on the physical health of their body, we are much more complex. Our soul — our mental, emotional and spiritual health — are often neglected,” Makary said in a statement provided to The Christian Post. 

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“But these areas are integral to our overall health. Soul care is health care, and should be tended to as we do with other physical ailments.”

In the book, Hasenbalg offers practical tools to help readers find healing and develop a closer relationship with God. It focuses on the three “core pillars” of spiritual care: reconciliation with God, reconciliation within and reconciliation with others.

“Soul care isn’t just for leaders or those in crisis — it’s for everyone,” Hasenbalg said about the book in a statement provided to CP. “It’s the only path to wholeness when life breaks us open.”

With Gen Zers reportedly suffering from severe feelings of hopelessness, anxiety and depression over the last decade, researchers have examined a potential link between worldview and the mental health crisis in the United States. 

The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University released a study in September 2024 that attributed the rise in mental health issues like anxiety and depression to “worldview deficiencies” rather than “psychological or chemical imbalances.” 

The report noted that 56% of Gen Zers and 49% of millennials regularly experience anxiety, fear or depression. The report added that one-in-three adults from these generations has at least one diagnosable mental disorder.

The study’s results were based on interviews conducted in January 2024 with a nationally representative sample of 2,000 U.S. adults aged 18 or older. The study had a sampling error of +/- 2 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

George Barna, a researcher responsible for the study, believes there is a direct correlation between mental health challenges and the lack of a biblical worldview, which the CRC defines as “a means of experiencing, interpreting and responding to reality in light of biblical perspectives.”

According to Barna, only 1% of Gen Zers and 2% of millennials possess a biblical worldview. Seven out of 10 individuals younger than 40 said their life lacks purpose, while four out of five who reject God reported frequent experiences of fear and anxiety.

Barna noted that it’s “not uncommon to find a young adult who trusts feelings more than facts, sees no inherent value to life, believes in Karma, and rejects the existence of the biblical God.”

“Add to this a lack of any sense of purpose or meaning, and the idea that truth is subjective,” he explained. “This common set of components results in a lifestyle that is inconsistent, chaotic, frustrating, and lacking hope. Anxiety, depression, and fear are virtually inescapable in such a life.”

Barna also noted that syncretism is the dominant worldview among many young Americans, adding that it’s “not surprising that anxiety, depression and fear are rampant among young adults who adopt syncretism.”

“Without a solid foundation of truth, their lives become inconsistent and chaotic,” he said, stating that “the biblical worldview, by contrast, provides a framework that fosters emotional stability.”