Why so much stress?

In the US today people are under much more stress than they used to be. Recently, the New York Times had an article which discussed how as Ireland has grown wealthier, the quality of life has diminished.
We see in so many societies that as wealth grows, so do hours spent at work responsibilities are added and employees see colleagues losing their jobs.
All this puts more pressure on people. Bad tempers and impatience are on the rise. "Me first" is one of the results. Families become less cohesive. Recent studies suggest that mental illness is highest in wealthy countries and that the US is highest of all. This cannot go on increasing. There must be an end to this. Some of this must come from governement but much from industry. Leaders must take and be assigned personal responsibility for this. Society should make it clear that it holds leaders responsible.