The following is a transcribed excerpt from one of Dr. Jordan Peterson’s 2020 lectures. In this segment, he discusses how we perceive the world, what causes our emotions to be destabilized, why we experience negative emotion when our plans change, and how our nervous system assess situations. You can <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast">listen to</a> or <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast">watch</a> more from Dr. Peterson on DailyWire+.
We do not see objects, think about them, evaluate them, and then decide how to act on them — or, if we do, we do it rarely, slowly, and with a lot of thought. What we see, instead, are obstacles or pathways with tools that will move us forward. When there are no obstacles in front of you — when there is a nice flat road — you experience positive emotion. You think, “This is a task I can undertake. The sailing is clear. It is a good day.” When there is an obstacle in front of you, you experience a little pang of disappointment and anxiety. You think, “Can I make it around that obstacle?” If you have done so before, you will think, fairly confidently, “I can walk forward, and then circumvent the obstacle.” It is a minor disruption to the perceptual set of skills you use to organize the world. It is a minor bit of chaos. If, however, you do not know how to engage in circumvention, then you would be unable to get from point A to point B; that would be a problem for your plan. When your perceptual set — the structure you are using to organize the world; the plan through which you are viewing the complexity of the world — reveals an inadequacy, then that destabilizes your emotions.
Regardless, you need to be going somewhere, and there needs to be a pathway in order for you to feel good. If that plan is untenable or becomes destabilized, then you become flooded with negative emotion: frustration, disappointment, anger, and primarily anxiety. But all of those emotions sort of intermingle. You may feel anger because you have to fight your way through the obstacle; frustration because maybe you have to make a new plan; disappointment because you devoted work to the plan and it did not work out; and anxiety because now there are too many choices in front of you. So people do not like to have their plans disrupted. The reason for that is that their plans are directly associated with their emotional perception of the world.
That is a good thing to know: Your plans are directly associated with your emotional perception of the world. For example, if you decide you are going to go to a Korean restaurant for dinner, and it turns out that you cannot — maybe you have to go to a Greek restaurant — who cares? (Unless you hate Greek restaurants.) A Korean restaurant is pretty good and a Greek restaurant is pretty good. But you are still going to be annoyed that your plans changed. Why? Because when your plans change, the structure that you use to stabilize your perceptions of the world is disrupted. It momentarily throws you into a state of chaos.
How much chaos? This is interesting. We do not know. If you wake up one morning and you have an ache in your side, what does it mean that you have an ache in your side? You do not know. Maybe it means you pulled a muscle. Maybe it means you have cancer and you only have months to live. The whole range of possibility is there. Some people will assume one thing, and some people will assume the other — and all of them will be right sometimes. So the question is, how do you calibrate something like that? The answer is, we tend to guess at it temperamentally. We have our set points for negative emotion (neuroticism trait), and some people would be a lot more nervous about a small-level anomaly than others. Maybe they will go to the hospital first and they will not die, or maybe they will be freaking out all the time and they will be a hypochondriac. There are pros and cons about being nervous like that. Perhaps the other person is emotionally stable and they ask nothing, but by the time they get to the hospital, it is too late. That is one way that you guess. It is determined in large part genetically — not completely, but in large part.
Another part is your position in the hierarchy. How safe are you in life? Who knows? But one of the ways you guess is by asking if you are good at things. If you are good at things, a problem comes up and you can probably solve it. So how do you know if you are good at things? One answer might be: Other people think you are good at things because you are really kind of comparing yourself to other people when you are thinking about whether or not you are good at things. So if it turns out that you are in a hierarchy — and you are fairly high in the hierarchy, indicating a certain degree of competence — then your nervous system, under the control of the serotonin system, dampens down your negative emotion. It says, “All things considered, you are probably pretty safe.”
However, that also means you do not like having your position in the dominance hierarchy challenged at all. Because if you get tossed down the hierarchy — for example, if you get fired — it wreaks havoc on your serotonin function. It makes you defeated like the defeated lobsters I wrote about in “<a href="https://store.dailywire.com/collections/books/products/12-rules-for-life-an-antidote-to-chaos?_pos=1&amp;_fid=6a4910042&amp;_ss=c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 Rules for Life</a>.” Then, you are way more susceptible to negative emotion. And who wants that? That is why you do not even like to lose arguments. You lose a little argument, you slide down the dominance hierarchy a bit, and emotions are a bit destabilized. So instead, you think, “I’m right.” Why? Because you want to keep your neurochemistry in check — and no wonder.
Sometimes, however, it is better to learn than to insist on being right because learning works better for the future. But you get the point.
* * *
To continue, listen or watch more content with Dr. Jordan Peterson on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch">DailyWire+</a>. 
<a href="https://www.jordanbpeterson.com/">Dr. Jordan B. Peterson</a> is a clinical psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto. From 1993 to 1998 he served as assistant and then associate professor of psychology at Harvard. He is the international bestselling author of &#8220;Maps of Meaning,&#8221; &#8220;12 Rules for Life,&#8221; and &#8220;Beyond Order.&#8221; You can now<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/the-jordan-b-peterson-podcast"> listen to</a> or<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/watch/jordan-peterson"> watch</a> his popular lectures on DailyWire+.

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Why A Change Of Plans Causes Emotional Destabilization 

Anxiety

Carl Jung

Depression

Jordan Peterson

Psychology

Readers Pass

A 28-year-old Dutch woman has decided to die by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/euthanasia">euthanasia</a> because she says she&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/depression">depressed</a>.
Zoraya ter Beek lives in a small village in the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/netherlands">Netherlands</a> near the German border with her boyfriend and two cats in a nice home. She has scheduled her death date for May and spoke with <a href="https://www.thefp.com/p/im-28-and-im-scheduled-to-die">The Free Press</a> about her <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/social-issues">decision</a> despite being physically healthy.
Ter Beek says she was studying to become a psychiatrist but was never able to finish school due to mental health issues, plus having autism and borderline personality disorder, the outlet notes.
She said her psychiatrist told her, “There’s nothing more we can do for you. It’s never gonna get any better.”
“I was always very clear that if it doesn’t get better, I can’t do this anymore,” ter Beek said.
The Netherlands native reviewed the process, saying she’ll be administered a sedative before getting a lethal injection at home on her couch. “The doctor really takes her time. It is not that they walk in and say: lay down please! Most of the time it is first a cup of coffee to settle the nerves and create a soft atmosphere,” ter Beek explained. 
She continued, “Then she asks if I am ready. I will take my place on the couch. She will once again ask if I am sure, and she will start up the procedure and wish me a good journey. Or, in my case, a nice nap, because I hate it if people say, ‘Safe journey.’ I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m a little afraid of dying, because it’s the ultimate unknown,” she said. “We don’t really know what’s next—or is there nothing? That’s the scary part.”
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The Netherlands was the first country in the world to make euthanasia legal in 2001, the outlet noted.
“I’m seeing euthanasia as some sort of acceptable option brought to the table by physicians, by psychiatrists, when previously it was the ultimate last resort,” Stef Groenewoud, a health care ethicist at Theological University Kampen in the Netherlands, told The Free Press.
“I see the phenomenon especially in people with psychiatric diseases, and especially young people with psychiatric disorders, where the health care professional seems to give up on them more easily than before,” she continued.
There were 8,720 euthanasia deaths in the Netherlands in 2022, accounting for around 5% of all the country’s deaths, per <a href="https://www.dutchnews.nl/2023/04/more-euthanasia-cases-in-2022-29-couples-helped-to-die/#google_vignette">DutchNews</a>. This represented a 4% increase from the previous year.
Last year, officials in the Netherlands also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/dutch-government-makes-life-termination-available-for-children-as-young-as-one-year-old">expanded</a> the availability of “life termination” for children between one and twelve years of age for reasons of “hopeless and unbearable suffering.”

sad woman

Physically Healthy Dutch Woman, 28, Opts For Euthanasia Because Of Depression: ‘I Can’t Do This Anymore’

Physically Healthy Dutch Woman, 28, Opts For Euthanasia Because Of Depression

Europe

Euthanasia

Netherlands

Social Issues

World

Generation Z is riddled with mental health issues, but some have doubts that more therapy is really the answer.
Gen Z, often defined as young people between ages 12 and 27 has worse mental health, lower self-confidence, and generally more dissatisfaction with life than older generations, one study <a href="https://www.shrm.org/topics-tools/news/inclusion-equity-diversity/the-least-resilient-demographic-alive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> last year.
Overall, only 33% of young adults say their mental health is &#8220;excellent&#8221; or &#8220;good&#8221; compared to 48% of other adults, according to the study. Similarly, another survey from 2022 <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/how-does-gen-z-see-its-place-in-the-working-world-with-trepidation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">found</a> that Americans from 18 to 24 report high rates of mental health challenges, impediments to effective work, and worries about the future.
A whopping 55% of Gen Z young adults 18 to 24 also say they have either been diagnosed with or have received treatment for mental illness, well above the rate of older groups, the 2022 survey found.
The pandemic also notably increased the mental health crisis among both young adults and children.
Author Abigail Shrier posited recently that the youngest generation might be less resilient because they are encouraged to focus on their bad feelings under the guise of working them out.
&#8220;Millennials thought they could do anything. They were the Mark Zuckerberg generation,&#8221; Shrier <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z72hgYk-5iI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> during an appearance on Joe Rogan&#8217;s podcast last month on the release day for her latest book, &#8220;Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren&#8217;t Growing Up.&#8221;
&#8220;We&#8217;re not seeing that with these young people. They don&#8217;t want to be in charge. They&#8217;re afraid,&#8221; Shrier said.
Therapy, she suggested, might not be helping as much as we think it is.
Shrier cited studies where teens who were taught coping techniques for emotional regulation became even sadder and more anxious.
&#8220;The reason was regularly ruminating on your bad feelings can make you feel worse,&#8221; Shrier said. &#8220;The amazing story of human history is — doesn&#8217;t mean it&#8217;s not painful, but — of resilience. They get on. They aren&#8217;t permanently suffering with mental illness.&#8221;
To be fair, some of Gen Z&#8217;s anxieties are backed in reality, such as their mounting concerns about their financial future, but this is all the more reason therapy might not be the answer to dealing with these outside problems.
Inflation has spiked over the last several years, and wage growth has not kept up. Housing prices continue to rise, making rent unaffordable in many areas for entry level workers and putting home ownership out of reach of even young people with established careers. When Gen Z looks back at their parents&#8217; and grandparents&#8217; generations they wonder whether they will ever experience financial security in the same way.
Only 37% of Gen Z workers said they believe most people in the country have economic opportunities, a data point that showcases the generation&#8217;s potent economic pessimism, the 2022 survey found. About 26% of Gen Z workers said they think their pay does not allow them a good quality of life, compared to 20% of older workers. A whopping 77% of Gen Z workers said they were looking for a new job, nearly double the rate of older workers.
Dovetailing with Gen Z&#8217;s pessimism about their financial future, they also tend to distrust political and societal institutions, including Congress, the news, the presidency, police, and large technology companies, a Gallup study from last year <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/510395/gen-voices-lackluster-trust-major-institutions.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a>. &#8220;Science&#8221; is the only institution trusted by a majority of Gen Z young people.
This distrust seems to grow as young people grow up and approach their early 20s — younger Gen Z kids ages 12 to 18 who are still in K-12 school are more trusting of institutions than those over 18.
Against this challenging economic backdrop, the newest adult generation&#8217;s lack of motivation is somewhat understandable.
However, at the same time, a slew of mental conditions have become popular content on social media including Tourettes Syndrome, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and depression. Many young people are eager to diagnose themselves and find community online with others who supposedly share their trendy condition.
While some may indeed have these conditions, critics say a dose of good, old-fashioned tough love — and maybe a social media detox — could help steer those who wrongly self-diagnosed towards a more fulfilling purpose.
On the bright side, Gen Z is <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> less likely to suffer from imposter syndrome at work, and there are signs this generation could be primed to be more optimistic and mentally healthy given the right circumstances.
Some Gen Z members <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90842227/gen-z-not-experience-imposter-syndrome" target="_blank" rel="noopener">say</a> they are eager to harness the power of social media to start influential movements, but certain things are extremely important to them including higher starting salaries and flexibility in work scheduling.
Gen Z is the largest generation in the world, making up about 32% of the 7.7 billion people on earth. They are more numerous than their older siblings the millennials and even bigger than the huge baby boomer generation.
There may not be a silver bullet to fix all their problems, but their success or failure will have an enormous effect on the future.

Rear view of woman looking out to city through window

Gen Z Has The Worst Mental Health, But Is More Therapy The Answer?

Gen Z

Generation Z

Health Care

Mental Health

Therapy

Billionaire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/ben-shapiro-sits-down-with-elon-musk-for-exclusive-wide-ranging-discussion-on-dei-space-religion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Elon Musk</a> posted about the side effects of hormonal <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fda-greenlights-first-birth-control-pill-with-no-prescription" target="_blank" rel="noopener">birth control</a> pills on Friday, setting off a host of women to reply to the post with their own negative experiences from taking the contraceptive.
Hormonal contraceptive, a.k.a &#8220;the pill,&#8221; is extremely <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db327.htm#section_4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">common</a> among women and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/safe-medicine-younger-girls-starting-birth-control/story?id=14116032#:~:text=Today%2C%20one%20in%20five%20American,is%20getting%20younger%20and%20younger.">girls</a>, and is sometimes even recommended for youths for something as benign as acne. However, side effects from the pill are hardly talked about, though some women in recent years have spoken out about <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/01/30/young-women-abandoning-birth-control-pills-for-mental-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ditching the pill</a> following such side effects.
&#8220;Hormonal birth control makes you fat, doubles risk of depression &amp; triples risk of suicide,&#8221; Musk posted to X. &#8220;This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it.&#8221;
The post has already been viewed more than 37 million times.
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Hormonal birth control makes you fat, doubles risk of depression &amp; triples risk of suicide.
This is the clear scientific consensus, but very few people seem to know it.
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1758569518442701250?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The SpaceX CEO followed up with a link to a Time magazine <a href="https://time.com/5030447/birth-control-side-effects-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> highlighting the increased risk of suicide associated with the pill. He also linked to a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29145752/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study in the American Journal of Psychiatry</a> that found hormonal contraception to double the risk of suicide attempts, and triple the risk of suicide.
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<a href="https://t.co/2R8TgggrRg">https://t.co/2R8TgggrRg</a>
&mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1758569948153344504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The responses to the post included women lauding Musk for bringing attention to the issue, and sharing their own stories.
Abby Johnson, a former Planned Parenthood clinic director-turned-pro-life advocate, responded: &#8220;Hormonal birth control gave me pseudotumor cerebri, which causes debilitating headaches and if untreated, blindness,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;I will have to be on medication for my entire life or otherwise lose my sight.&#8221;
&#8220;Fertility is a sign of HEALTH!!!,&#8221; Johnson stressed. &#8220;Don’t take a pill to break something that is working! I’m so thankful to have gotten off that crap and now have 8 beautiful children.&#8221;
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Hormonal birth control gave me pseudotumor cerebri, which causes debilitating headaches and if untreated, blindness. I will have to be on medication for my entire life or otherwise lose my sight. Fertility is a sign of HEALTH!!! Don’t take a pill to break something that is…
&mdash; Dr. Abby Johnson (@AbbyJohnson) <a href="https://twitter.com/AbbyJohnson/status/1758898799387566484?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Ashley St. Clair of The Babylon Bee recounted her experience after being on the pill for nearly a decade, starting at age 14.
&#8220;I was placed on the pill at just 14 years old for acne. A few months later, I saw my first-ever therapist despite no prior history of depression,&#8221; she wrote. &#8220;Shortly after that, I was placed on an SSRI. Each time I would talk to my doctors about my deteriorating mental health, not a single one in nearly a decade of being on the pill suggested that it may in fact be the hormones I was taking every single day. Not one.&#8221;
&#8220;In retrospect, after being on birth control for nearly a decade, being placed on the pill for &#8216;acne&#8217; was akin to killing a mouse with a rocket launcher,&#8221; St. Clair continued. &#8220;Hundreds of thousands of women across the United States and the world have had a similar experience to mine — feeling completely out of their mind on a pill their doctor told them was relatively &#8216;harmless.'&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I was placed on the pill at just 14 years old for acne. A few months later, I saw my first-ever therapist despite no prior history of depression. Shortly after that, I was placed on an SSRI. 
Each time I would talk to my doctors about my deteriorating mental health, not a single… <a href="https://t.co/Fj4hOj4qQQ">https://t.co/Fj4hOj4qQQ</a>
&mdash; Ashley St. Clair (@stclairashley) <a href="https://twitter.com/stclairashley/status/1758570914432659527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I’ve been (wrongfully) slandered time and time again as an anti-science conspiracy theorist for pointing out all the legitimate reasons why we shouldn’t shut off our natural hormonal functioning,&#8221; writer Andrea Mew posted, captioning screenshots of her columns on the topic published at Evie magazine. &#8220;Is the tide finally turning for mainstream opinions on hormonal birth control?&#8221;
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I’ve been (wrongfully) slandered time and time again as an anti-science conspiracy theorist for pointing out all the legitimate reasons why we shouldn’t shut off our natural hormonal functioning.
Is the tide finally turning for mainstream opinions on hormonal birth control? <a href="https://t.co/TZumHdReg4">https://t.co/TZumHdReg4</a> <a href="https://t.co/bHmvhgfvXU">pic.twitter.com/bHmvhgfvXU</a>
&mdash; Andrea Mew (@andreajmew) <a href="https://twitter.com/andreajmew/status/1758633220055466078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;I CAN VOUCH FOR the weight gain and mood swings, etc. I took this stuff for about 2 years as a very young wife,&#8221; another woman <a href="https://twitter.com/lsfletcher21/status/1758852523690000795" target="_blank" rel="noopener">responded</a> to Musk. &#8220;Hated the way it made me feel, and stopped taking it. I&#8217;m a grandmother now &#8230; never regretted getting off the pill. I feel the same way about many modern meds. Be careful folks and listen to your body.&#8221;
Other women discussed the <a href="https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/hormones/oral-contraceptives-fact-sheet" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased risks</a> of both <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/certain-birth-control-pills-increase-risk-of-breast-cancer-by-up-to-30-university-of-oxford-researchers-find">breast cancer</a> and cervical cancer associated with the pill.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/certain-birth-control-pills-increase-risk-of-breast-cancer-by-up-to-30-university-of-oxford-researchers-find" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Certain Birth Control Pills Increase Risk Of Breast Cancer By Up To 30%, University Of Oxford Researchers Find</a>

Billionaire Elon Musk at Paris Viva Tech Fair

Elon Musk’s Post On Hormonal Birth Control Goes Viral; Women Respond With Their Negative Experiences

Elon Musk Draws Attention To Side Effects Of Hormonal Birth Control; Women Unload With Their Negative Experiences

Birth Control

Elon Musk

Suicide

Elmo did it. He opened the can of worms.
Elmo, as you may know, is the red, furry Muppet from Sesame Street. He made a big booboo yesterday. He went on X and <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1751995117366296904" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a>, “Elmo is just checking in. How is everybody doing?”
And then the world unleashed its hellfire on Elmo, with users from all across the political spectrum immediately unloading on Elmo to tell him how disappointed, upset, and depressed they were.
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Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?
&mdash; Elmo (@elmo) <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1751995117366296904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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One user replied, “Elmo, I&#8217;m suffering from existential dread over here.” Another replied, “Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life.”
Rachel Zegler, the actress from “Snow White” — a film that was reshot after she made obnoxious comments about how terrible Snow White was — tweeted that she was “resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I&#8217;m kind of sad.”
This was going on everywhere. And it&#8217;s a funny joke because a Muppet asking how everybody is doing and then everybody responding to a Muppet that they are experiencing existential angst and are upset is really funny.
Elmo then <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1752378693446508842">replied</a>, “Wow, Elmo is glad he asked. Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check again soon, friends. Elmo loves you. #EmotionalWellBeing.”
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1895-how-elmo-unleashed-emotional-hell-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
Then Joe Biden came in from the wings with a chainsaw to massacre the joke. He <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1752518567239536821">tweeted</a>, “I know how hard it is somedays to sweep the clouds away and get to sunnier days. Our friend Elmo is right: We have to be there for each other, offer our help to a neighbor in need, and above all else, ask for help when we need it. Even though it&#8217;s hard, you&#8217;re never alone.” 
So here&#8217;s my question today: What the hell happened to our sense of humor? Why can&#8217;t we just laugh at this? It&#8217;s really funny. Why can&#8217;t we just laugh when Elmo asks X how everyone is doing and people answer with their angst-ridden thoughts?
It&#8217;s ok for us to laugh at things, but it seems as though, in this country, it&#8217;s now not ok to laugh at pretty much anything anymore. Comedy really died during the Obama administration, when all of our comedic leaders decided they were actually politicians and Barack Obama was actually a celebrity.
The complete merger of celebrity and politics that occurred when Obama became president was a total comedy because comedians decided they were going to effectively become spokespeople for Obama&#8217;s administration. 
Chris Rock suggested that Obama was like his father, that he was like a father figure to all of us. Comedians suggested that it was impossible to make fun of Obama because there was nothing funny about the man — which, of course, is in and of itself pretty funny.
Barack Obama was a highly marketable character. He thought he was a transformative figure when in fact he was just a corrupt Chicago politician with delusions of grandeur.
But because comedy decided it could not stay separate from politics, one of the common spaces we had as a society was undermined — when comedy was once a space we shared as a society.
No matter where you stood politically, funny was just funny. That was the basic idea for decades in American life. It didn&#8217;t matter where you were on the political spectrum. Richard Pryor was funny. George Carlin was funny. Johnny Carson was funny. Jay Leno was funny.
But as the social fabric breaks down, it is very difficult to laugh. Laughter becomes incredibly difficult because if you believe the person who&#8217;s making the joke is laughing at you, you are no longer laughing along. And if you believe the person who is making the joke is actually not joking, that underneath that joke is failure and rage and wrath, that&#8217;s not funny either.
Sadness, depression, anger. These are not emotions that can coexist with laughter.
As a society, we&#8217;re having a kind of mental breakdown. That&#8217;s what&#8217;s happening because we should all be able to laugh at the Elmo gambit. This is part of what I found hilarious about the rap song that Tom McDonald and I released, which hit number one on the charts. The number one song.
That&#8217;s hilarious. It&#8217;s the best cultural troll of all time. I don&#8217;t need to explain the joke, but look at me: I am not a rapper. I have no ambitions to be a rapper. In fact, if two weeks ago you had polled people who knew my name and asked, “What is the thing Ben Shapiro is least likely to do,” their answers would probably have been that song.
That&#8217;s why it&#8217;s funny. And yet, people are already starting to get angry at the song, people who can&#8217;t laugh at the very idea.
It&#8217;s a joke. It&#8217;s funny. I&#8217;m going to attribute their anger to the fact the social fabric is breaking down and that&#8217;s having some really deleterious effects on all sides of the political aisle.
A prime example: the weird cultural breakdown we are now having over Taylor Swift.
The idea that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s romance is a plant by the NFL or her stage managers or whomever is a funny idea. It&#8217;s funny. It&#8217;s a joke.
We can all laugh at that because Swift has spent her entire life in music writing and singing songs about her horrible history with men and breakups with very famous people.
If she really is in a sincere romance at this point, we all wish the best for her. If Swift actually does marry Kelce and they end up having babies, there will be a Swift baby boom because that&#8217;s how stupid our culture is. People take pop culture too seriously.
I&#8217;ve been making jokes about it since the NFL started showing her in the skybox as she acted like, “Oh, I love football now.&#8221;
It&#8217;s just so ridiculous. It&#8217;s super silly, but the joke can never just stay the joke because people hate each other too much. So you can&#8217;t even joke about Swift.
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Members of the Trump campaign are reportedly angry about Swift. They&#8217;re suggesting Swift is a plant, as if 20 years ago the CIA figured, “We&#8217;re going to make Taylor Swift a star. You know what else we&#8217;re going to do? We&#8217;re going to craft an entire football league and then breed an incredibly talented tight end. And then we are going to fix up these two in perfect alignment just in time to reelect a doddering old man.”
Let&#8217;s just laugh.
Politics and life in general are tragicomedy. Politics is hysterically funny when viewed from one lens and then deeply tragic when viewed from another — because politics can have such an impact on all of our lives.
But if you lose the comedy, you are not losing it because all this isn&#8217;t funny. You&#8217;re losing the comedy because you don&#8217;t like the people who are around you. You don&#8217;t like the country you&#8217;re in; you don&#8217;t like the people who are existing.
This may be the funniest time in the history of American politics.
We have Donald Trump, a real estate magnate who was president of the United States once and is acting like a stand-up insult comic running against a vegetable.
And in the middle of this, we have projected it all onto a football star dating a pop star in the middle of the NFL playoffs while pretending this has world-shaking historical importance, which it does not.
Perhaps the predicate for us rebuilding a social fabric in this country is to be able to laugh at funny things.
But nobody&#8217;s laughing.
Biden doing the “trust me” routine when it comes to politics no longer helps.
Comedy requires trust, and so does political success.

TODAY – Season 72

Lost In America: Nobody Laughs Anymore

Barack Obama

Ben Shapiro

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Donald Trump

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Joe Biden

Opinion

Taylor Swift

Mark Duplass isn’t a household name. He just happens to have a household face.
The actor/producer has been all over our screens in recent years, including co-starring in Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show” and popping up in “The Mindy Project,” “Paddleton” and FX’s “The League,” to name just a few high-profile projects.
<div id="attachment_664367" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-664367" decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-664367" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-1530672232-864x576.jpg" alt="TODAY -- Pictured: Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass on Thursday July 13, 2023 -- (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-1530672232-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-1530672232-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-1530672232-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2023/12/GettyImages-1530672232.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images</div>
You’d think he has it all – a bustling Hollywood schedule without the perils of A-list fame, the respect of his community, and the ability to tell stories on his own terms via his production company.
That’s both right and wrong.
Duplass has been sharing his mental health journey on Instagram, and it might come as a shock to those assuming his life teems with happiness. Most stars use the platform to peddle products, promote their latest films, or just connect with admirers.
Duplass has something else in mind.
He’s been <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0PMGAIxaZL/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealing his struggles</a> with depression and anxiety in ways that strip the veneer off his celebrity life.
<blockquote>Today I am feeling a little sad. Can I say that and be okay with it? And not spend the day in fear that this small sadness will grow into a sadness monster that might take me down? Maybe I can even be grateful for the ability to hold this sadness (not run from it) and place it next to some hope I&#8217;ve been nurturing. And just let them co-mingle for a bit, like nervous strangers at a dinner party. And just kinda see what happens. Because, as many of you know, sadness is not the same thing as depression. Sadness is a feeling I&#8217;m grateful to feel. Sadness we can work with. 
 
So yeah. I’m a little sad. And a little hopeful. That’s… pretty good. 
 
How are you feeling today?</blockquote>
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It&#8217;s a far cry from his dude bro character on FX’s “The League,” which ran for five seasons and celebrated the kind of male bonding that eschews therapeutic talk.
Here’s <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C0S3MJ1rGnQ/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">another example</a>:
<blockquote>The sheer amount of things I can do/see/experience/consume on a daily bases [sic] has increased drastically in my lifetime, and I don’t think it’s made me happier. When I look back at some of the most wonderful moments in my life, they were surprisingly super small. The quiet of a long winter hike and the delayed gratification of eating my homemade 62 cent peanut butter and jelly sandwich once I reach the summit….This epically small stuff is the easiest to access, and it’s really lifting me up right now. I hope it might do something similar for you.</blockquote>
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At times his updates are gently positive and life-affirming. Then he might share some of the singer-songwriters who have helped him through rough patches with their art, like Cassandra Jenkins, The Milk Carton Kids, Adrianne Lenker and The Paper Kites.
They’re not household names, either, but here’s betting some of Duplass’ followers will be investigating their music sooner than later.
It’s not a one-way conversation, a chance for a celebrity to wax on about his emotional state. His deeply personal essays inspire plenty of feedback from fans and those eager to hear his latest updates. Mental health professionals also weigh in, cheering his efforts to connect with followers in a way above and beyond the celebrity circuit.
He’s also using Instagram to chat with mental health professionals from the nonprofit group <a href="https://twloha.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">To Write Love on Her Arms</a> about his feelings and how they can collectively help others. Plus, these social media events raise money for “mental health scholarships,” and he’s offered to donate up to $10,000 toward the cause.
He’s not alone in his Hollywood struggles, of course. 
For every star who publicly confesses about their past sins, others genuinely share their personal struggles. Robert Downey, Jr. helped build the Marvel Cinematic Universe from the ground up, but before flying high as Iron Man he struggled with severe addiction issues.
He even spent time in prison before conquering his demons, and he’s been open about his struggles along the way.
Actor Michael J. Fox turned his Parkinson’s disease diagnosis into a foundation that raises millions to battle the incurable illness.
Another star who appears to have it all is Angelina Jolie. She’s an Oscar-winning actress whose wealth and fame have been secure for decades. Yet she recently admitted to The Wall Street Journal Magazine that <a href="https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/film/angelina-jolie-atelier-maria-callas-cf62ff38" target="_blank" rel="noopener">she loathes living in the public eye</a> and longs to move to a more authentic place rather than spend time in Los Angeles.
<blockquote>When I was starting out, it wasn’t as much of an expectation to be as public, to share so much. … It’s part of what happened after my divorce. I lost the ability to live and travel as freely. I will move when I can…I grew up in quite a shallow place. Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So you seek authenticity.</blockquote>
Celebrities routinely virtue signal on social media and via fawning interviews. It’s empty blather, for the most part, opinions that change few hearts and minds. Sometimes, the stars are just posturing for the next gig with their pre-packaged opinions.
What Duplass, Downey Jr., and Fox have done is different. It’s personal and substantial, the case of stars using their bully pulpit to make a difference in the lives of others.
That’s real star power.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@HollywoodInToto</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Los Angeles Premiere Of HBO’s “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed”

The Other Side Of Hollywood: Mark Duplass Opens Up About Struggle With Anxiety

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Entertainment

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Use of marijuana, hallucinogens, and binge drinking hit record highs among middle-aged adults last year, according to a new survey.
Last year, a record 28% of adults aged 35 to 50 said they use marijuana, more than double the 13% who said they used the drug a decade ago, according to the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future panel <a href="https://monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/mtfpanel2023.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a>. Last year&#8217;s number is the highest since 2008 when data <a href="https://monitoringthefuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/vol2_2008.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was first</a> collected.
Daily marijuana use was reported by nearly 7% of mid-life adults. Daily use is defined as using the drug 20 or more times in the past 30 days.
Hallucinogenic drug use also hit record levels among middle-aged adults last year.
Just over 4% of mid-life adults said they had used hallucinogenic drugs last year, the highest level since 2008. About 12% of middle-aged adults said they had used some drug other than marijuana last year, such as hallucinogens like LSD, cocaine, amphetamines, sedatives, and heroin.
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Binge drinking hit record levels among middle-aged adults as well.
About 29% of mid-life adults said they had consumed five or more drinks in a row sometime in the past two weeks, the highest since it was first measured in 2008.
Amphetamine use has also jumped over the last decade, with just over 3% of mid-life adults saying they used amphetamines in the past year, compared to just over 1% saying so in 2012.
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Marijuana use also surged to a record level in young adults under 30. Nearly 44% of adults ages 19 to 30 used marijuana last year, and over 11% reported daily marijuana use.
Hallucinogen use other than LSD also rose to a record 7% of young adults last year, although LSD use declined.
The annual University of Michigan survey collects data from about 28,500 people across the country and is funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Substance use is not limited to teens and young adults, and these data help us understand how people use drugs across the lifespan,” NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow <a href="https://nida.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/2023/08/marijuana-and-hallucinogen-use-binge-drinking-reached-historic-highs-among-adults-35-to-50" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Thursday in a press release on the survey.
“Understanding these trends is a first step, and it is crucial that research continues to illuminate how substance use and related health impacts may change over time,” Volkow said.
The higher levels of drug use and binge drinking come amid national concerns about a loneliness &#8220;<a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">epidemic</a>.&#8221;
&#8220;In the last few decades, we&#8217;ve just lived through a dramatic pace of change. We move more, we change jobs more often, we are living with technology that has profoundly changed how we interact with each other and how we talk to each other,&#8221; Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/05/02/1173418268/loneliness-connection-mental-health-dementia-surgeon-general" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in May.
&#8220;And you can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you, because loneliness is about the quality of your connections,&#8221; Murthy said.
The increase in marijuana use has coincided with a slew of states decriminalizing the drug and legalizing recreational use. Recreational marijuana use is now legal in the District of Columbia and 23 states including New York, Illinois, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Michigan, Oregon, Massachusetts, and Montana.
Illegal markets continue to operate even in states where the drug is legal, however.
New York City <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-losing-millions-in-taxes-from-legal-marijuana-sales-while-illegal-market-booms-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expected</a> to pull in $56 million in tax revenue in its first year of legal weed, but instead is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-york-losing-millions-in-taxes-from-legal-marijuana-sales-while-illegal-market-booms-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">losing</a> millions from anemic legal marijuana sales while an illegal market thrives.
Some areas have expressed concerns about marijuana smoking becoming a nuisance. Several Minnesota cities <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/minnesota-cities-consider-banning-smoking-marijuana-in-public-areas-as-drug-nears-legalization" target="_blank" rel="noopener">considered</a> banning smoking marijuana in public ahead of the drug’s legalization this month. At least one of the cities has <a href="https://www.mprnews.org/story/2023/08/15/duluth-city-council-votes-to-ban-smoking-marijuana-in-public-parks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">already</a> voted for the ban.

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Postpartum depression (PPD) has drawn increased attention in recent years as people become more knowledgeable about the disorder. While it is a heartbreaking condition for families across the United States, and more discussion and research about it is beneficial, the rising rates of postpartum depression are not happening in a vacuum. Rather, they exist alongside a cultural devaluation of motherhood, which should be considered as a factor in the escalating cases.
Many women experience feelings of sadness after having a baby, which are typically called “baby blues,” and often dissipate during the first two weeks postpartum. However, postpartum depression is a lengthier and more serious mental health condition. According to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">postpartumdepression.org</a>, around 10% of women will experience postpartum depression after delivering their babies. Additionally, a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from the CDC found that postpartum depressive symptoms occurred among 13.2% of respondents.
The cause of postpartum depression is <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">unknown</a>, but factors, such as one’s general lifestyle choices and social situation, could contribute to the disorder. According to the National Library of Medicine, postpartum depression can <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">happen</a> in women who experience anxiety and depression at any point in their pregnancy. “Risk factors&#8221; include a “[h]istory of depression and anxiety,” as well as having a “[n]egative attitude towards the baby.” Others include a difficult pregnancy, and “[l]ack of social support can cause postpartum depression.”
WebMD <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">states</a> that the initial signs of postpartum depression could be women “feel[ing] unhappy about being a parent.” Other symptoms include their sleep patterns shifting, worries that they won’t be a good mom, women struggling to make decisions, and losing interest in things that used to bring them enjoyment. If mothers experience thoughts of harming themselves or their babies, these are symptoms of worsened postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis that should be immediately addressed.
Postpartum depression appears to have similar <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">characteristics</a> to other forms of depression — some people are more likely to suffer from it than others, but it is also exacerbated by certain conditions. Some women who are particularly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">vulnerable</a> might be more likely to develop symptoms of depression after their bodies experience major hormonal changes following delivery. While the public has grown increasingly aware of postpartum depression, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discussion</a> of it focuses on low access to medical care for postpartum women instead of external factors, which are taken into consideration with other mental health struggles.
Depression and anxiety are often treated with medication, but the general population has an understanding that certain elements make a substantial impact on the likelihood that one will experience depression or anxiety. For example, over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression went up around the world by 25%, according to a brief <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> by the World Health Organization. The increase in isolation and stress impacted people on a worldwide level, but the external factors affecting postpartum women’s mental health are not as immediately taken into consideration.
Research <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">shows</a> that instances of PPD have been historically rising. A Blue Cross Blue Shield <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> found that postpartum depression diagnoses <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> nearly 30% from 2014 to 2018. In 2016, there was a slight decrease followed by a jump. Early on in the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pandemic</a>, postpartum depression also went up. It also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">occurs</a> throughout the world. In Western developed nations, a survey found that PPD prevalence was 7% to 40%, whereas Asian countries saw a prevalence of 3.5% to 63.3%. Globally, it is 10 to 15%. 
As concern over postpartum depression grows, the medical community has answered with pharmaceuticals. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">approved</a> the first pill to treat postpartum depression earlier this month. However, while research on postpartum depression should continue, it should not be isolated as a mental health issue that is entirely unlike other depressive conditions that have no connection to societal shifts.
In the past several years, society has devalued motherhood to an extent that is likely impacting the feelings of desperation many women experience when confronted with the life-altering shift of becoming a mother. The recent cultural attitude towards motherhood has been a reduction in acknowledging its importance and benefits to society as a whole. It has made women feel as if the stresses and struggles of becoming a mother are abnormal and they would be better off forgoing childbearing completely.
A 2014 Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/02/most-new-parents-are-totally-unprepared-for-their-new-babies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> contained information taken from interviews of parents in Australia, most of whom said that they had “‘unrealistic’ expectations” about the characteristics of infants in early parenthood. It also noted how many Americans are having fewer babies than they did in the past, which results in fewer interactions with children, leaving new parents uneducated about how to take care of babies. The Post claimed that the media portrays an unrealistic and inaccurate picture of early motherhood bliss and perfection, which puts a strain on new parents. However, new mothers growing up in today’s society would likely say the opposite.
As others have pointed out, young women are no longer intentionally prepared for the job of raising a family. The internet instead has stepped in to provide a plethora of websites, blogs, courses, and social media accounts to help new moms create routines for their babies. The overload of online tips has replaced one-on-one advice that used to be passed down to the younger generation from older relatives. When moms fail to routinize their lives into a strict schedule, they feel inadequate.
Fifty years of legal abortion across the United States has been the most significant initiation of the devaluation of motherhood. The pop-culture celebration of abortion in particular has characterized pregnancy, birth, and motherhood as hindrances to other goals. It has established a one-for-one exchange, where young women are told they cannot achieve their dreams if they have children at an inconvenient time. Instead of providing ways to do both, it insists women must choose between the two, and when they choose motherhood, they feel as if they are missing out on something else. They have the perception that if they schedule motherhood into their lives, it will be easy, which is false. Consequently, when they do have children, their mental and physical well-being go through a state of shock, and their system is understandably overwhelmed.
Motherhood is no longer considered an achievement in itself. Society has instead conditioned young women to view it as a distraction that takes them away from other pursuits. Women should be given the support to achieve their goals outside of being a mother, but this can’t be done in a way that undermines motherhood, leaving new moms feeling alone.
Postpartum depression is a real and visceral disorder, and the increased recognition of its prevalence is helpful to struggling families. However, if society changes its attitude towards mothers, and sees their contribution of raising young people as a net positive for communities, it could help quell the rising cases of this tragic mental health condition. It will provide new moms with the feeling of accomplishment that should accompany the daily work of caring for children who will be the world leaders of tomorrow. Even when the days are long, mothers will feel valuable, and society will be better for it.
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Mother holding her baby indoors

Postpartum Depression And The Devaluation Of Motherhood 

Infants

Motherhood

Mothers

Parenting

Women

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/suicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suicides</a> climbed to a record 49,500 last year, putting the suicide rate higher than it has been since the beginning of World War II, according to government data released Thursday.
Suicide deaths rose 3% in 2022, jumping by more than 1,000 deaths, the new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.
The provisional data is based on U.S. death certificates and is almost complete, although it could change slightly before it is finalized.
Men took their own lives nearly four times as much as women.
A total of 39,255 men committed suicide last year, compared to 10,194 women. Both numbers are higher than in 2021, when suicides spiked 4% and a total of 38,358 men and 9,825 women took their own lives.
White men <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/disparities-in-suicide.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have</a> the highest suicide rate among male racial groups with about 50 suicides per 100,000 men, the CDC said.
Male suicidality has been a known crisis for years. Risk factors for men can be loneliness, social alienation, or a weakened sense of meaning or purpose in life, which can result from difficult events like losing a job or the dissolution of a man&#8217;s nuclear family, such as through divorce, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-about-men/202109/the-silent-crisis-male-suicide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to academics.
White people made up about 75% of all suicides last year, with more than 37,000 deaths. White Americans are also about 75% of the population, <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to last year&#8217;s U.S. Census data.
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However, Native Americans tend to have the highest suicide rate with about 28 deaths per 100,000 people, according to older data from 2021. White people had the next highest rate with 17 deaths per 100,000 people.
Older adults ages 45 to 64 had the highest jump in suicides last year, with nearly 1,000 more suicides for a total of more than 15,000 deaths. However, men 75 and older have the highest rate compared to other age groups, 42 suicides per 100,000 men.
In a rare bright spot, youth suicides were down more than 8% last year, but they still amounted to about 6,500 suicides of children and young adults ages 10 to 24.
During the pandemic, the suicide rate among children and young adults <a href="https://www.nimh.nih.gov/news/science-news/2023/youth-suicide-rates-increased-during-the-covid-19-pandemic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> as schools closed and kids were stuck at home, many <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/24/us/politics/student-suicides-nevada-coronavirus.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">struggling</a> with remote learning and not being able to see their friends.
Historically, male youths are more likely to die by suicide, while teen girls tend to attempt suicide more often, with about a third of high school girls in the U.S. saying they seriously considered suicide in 2021, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Health/us-teen-girls-considered-attempting-suicide-2021-cdc/story?id=98901688" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CDC data. Notably, teen girls&#8217; rates of depression, anxiety, and self-harm <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/11/facebooks-dangerous-experiment-teen-girls/620767/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">spiked</a> in the early 2010s just as social media use was becoming ubiquitous.
Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Suicides rose every year starting in the early 2000s until 2019, when they dipped slightly before spiking again in 2021 as people struggled with the ongoing pandemic.
Drug addiction and homelessness have also spiked in certain places since COVID. Nearly 106,700 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S. in 2021, <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db457.htm#:~:text=Vital%20Statistics%20System-,The%20age%2Dadjusted%20rate%20of%20drug%20overdose%20deaths%20rose%20more,standard%20population%20(Figure%201)." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to CDC data. Homelessness has spiked in many major cities like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco since the pandemic began.
If you or someone you know needs support now, call or text 988 or chat at <a class="c-link" href="http://988lifeline.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://988lifeline.org" data-sk="tooltip_parent">988lifeline.org</a>.

Winter Blues Beckon As Daylight Hours Foreshorten

Suicides Hit Record High Last Year In U.S., Men Are Vast Majority Of Deaths

Health

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dwayne-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson</a> recently opened up about experiencing <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/depression" target="_blank" rel="noopener">depression</a> multiple times in his life.
The “Jumanji” actor and former professional wrestler discussed his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental health</a> during an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVc0592Je_o" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appearance</a> on the podcast “The Pivot.” Johnson said his first experience with depression occurred after a shoulder injury derailed his football career at the University of Miami.
&#8220;[I] didn&#8217;t want to go to school,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I was ready to leave. I left school. I didn&#8217;t take any midterms and I just left. But the interesting thing, at that time, is I just didn&#8217;t know what it was. I didn&#8217;t know what mental health was. I didn&#8217;t know what depression was. I just knew I didn&#8217;t want to be there. Wasn&#8217;t going to any of the team meetings. Wasn&#8217;t participating in anything.&#8221;
The Rock said he became depressed again after going through a divorce from Dany Garcia in 2008. Those first two times helped Johnson identify what was happening when he became depressed again in 2017.
&#8220;Years later, around 2017 or so, went through a little bit. Knew what it was at that time,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And luckily, at that time, I had some friends who I could lean on and say, &#8216;You know, I&#8217;m feeling a little wobbly now. Got a little struggle happening. I&#8217;m seeing a little gray and not the blue.'&#8221;
The 51-year-old actor said his three daughters were his “saving grace” to help him get through tough times.
&#8220;You look at them, and you realize, &#8216;Well, I mean, really, this is what it&#8217;s all about,’&#8221; Johnson said of being a father. 
The “Black Adam” star promoted the podcast interview on social media. 
He wrote in his Instagram post <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsIUVWLPSuG/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">caption</a>, “I&#8217;ve worked hard over the years to gain the emotional tools to work thru [sic] any mental pain that may come to test me. But years ago I didn&#8217;t know what mental health struggle was,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;As men, we didn&#8217;t talk about it. We just kept our head down and worked thru it. Not healthy, but it&#8217;s all we knew.&#8221;
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&#8220;If you&#8217;re going thru your own version of mental wellness turning into mental hell-ness, the most important thing you can do is talk to somebody,” Johnson wrote. “It can&#8217;t be fixed if you keep that pain inside. Having the courage to talk to someone is your superpower. I lost two friends to suicide.&#8221;
&#8220;Talk to someone. Despite how you may feel, you&#8217;re never alone,&#8221; he concluded.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a free hotline for individuals in crisis or distress or for those looking to help someone else. It is available 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

The Rock

Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson Discusses ‘Three Bouts Of Depression’ He Experienced

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson Discusses 'Three Bouts Of Depression' He Experienced

Dwayne Johnson

Senator <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-fetterman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Fetterman</a> (D-PA) blamed his recent hospitalization on the &#8220;brutality&#8221; of his 2022 Senate campaign.
In an interview with Pittsburgh CBS affiliate <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/sen-john-fetterman-exclusive-interview-politics-pennsylvania/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">KDKA</a>, Fetterman said he is doing better, after he checked himself into Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., in February. Fetterman was diagnosed with depression and spent six weeks in treatment at Walter Reed. In the interview, the freshman senator blamed his depression on his May 2022 stroke, but also on Republicans during the campaign.
&#8220;It was after the brutality of the campaign, the other side,&#8221; Fetterman said. &#8220;Some people believe it was one of the most vicious political campaigns.&#8221; However, Fetterman did not put any of the blame on his opponent, celebrity heart surgeon and television presenter Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman&#8217;s health was a major concern of the campaign. He suffered a massive stroke in May that sidelined him from campaigning for months. The stroke was thrust into the spotlight in particular after an NBC News report in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/democrat-senate-candidate-fetterman-forced-to-use-giant-screen-for-interview-this-guys-in-bad-shape" target="_blank" rel="noopener">October</a> revealed that Fetterman needed a giant computer screen with closed captions in order to understand what the reporter was saying. Fetterman also reportedly struggled to find the right words in the interview. The impact was also apparent during Fetterman&#8217;s lone <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fetterman-faces-fallout-from-disastrous-debate-worst-performance-by-any-candidate-i-have-ever-seen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">debate</a> with Dr. Oz; Fetterman struggled to find words and gave several incoherent and incomplete answers to questions.
Fetterman said that his mental health was preventing him from being an effective Senator, husband, and father. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t being the kind of senator Pennsylvania deserved,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I wasn&#8217;t being the kind of husband Gisele deserved, I wasn&#8217;t being the kind of father my children deserved.&#8221;
But Fetterman said this week that he is in better shape. &#8220;I feel fantastic, honestly,&#8221; he said. &#8220;A lot of people have been asking, &#8216;Hey, how are you feeling, how&#8217;s your depression?&#8217; It&#8217;s in remission, and I am just so grateful to [be] just feeling great.&#8221;
KDKA&#8217;s Jon Delano then presented the burning question directly. &#8220;Is John Fetterman really fit, mentally and physically, to be a United States senator?&#8221; he asked.
&#8220;That certainly is very blunt, but my answer will be blunt, too,&#8221; Fetterman replied. &#8220;Hell yes, and that&#8217;s why I&#8217;m doing it. Just the way any Pennsylvanians are working, you take it a day and a day and work hard, and that&#8217;s exactly what I am doing here.&#8221;
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Fetterman was released from Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-john-fetterman-released-from-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March 31</a>. After being discharged, he returned home to Pennsylvania to continue his recovery, and returned to work on April 17, when the Senate returned from recess.
According to a <a href="https://twitter.com/frankthorp/status/1641919383147536384?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from Dr. David Williamson, chief of neuropsychiatry and medical director of Walter Reed, Fetterman was admitted on February 15 with severe symptoms of depression, including low energy and motivation, minimal speech, poor sleep, slowed thinking, slowed movement, and feelings of guilt and worthlessness. Fortunately, Fetterman did not show signs of suicidal ideation. But his symptoms had progressively worsened over a period of eight weeks; Fetterman stopped eating and drinking, causing low blood pressure and possibly hurting blood flow to his brain.
Fetterman’s low blood pressure was attributed to poor hydration and weight loss. The Cardiology team adjusted his medications while his depression was handled with medication therapy. Fetterman’s mood steadily improved over the following weeks, the statement continued. He slept better, ate well, and hydrated, and he seemed happier and more motivated, and his attitude and engagement with others also improved. The report concluded that his depression went into remission because of the treatment. Fetterman committed to long-term treatment for depression, the report said.

Sen. John Fetterman

John Fetterman Says His Depression Came From ‘Brutality Of The Campaign, The Other Side’

John Fetterman Says His Depression Came From 'Brutality Of The Campaign, The Other Side'

2022 Election

Congress

John Fetterman

Pennsylvania

Politics

Senate

Stroke

Senator John Fetterman is expected to return to work the week of April 17th, after seeking treatment for anxiety and depression at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
According to a <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/03/29/fetterman-set-to-return-to-senate-00089519" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published by Politico on Wednesday, sources close to the freshman Keystone State senator have indicated that he recovered well and is ready to get back to work as soon as possible.
Fetterman <a href="https://dailywire.com/news/senator-fetterman-to-be-hospitalized-for-weeks-after-checking-himself-into-hospital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">checked himself in</a> for treatment weeks earlier, stating that he had been diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression — conditions that he had dealt with in the past but had only amplified after a near-fatal stroke, a senate campaign, and his first days in office.
CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/29/politics/fetterman-return-senate/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that a source close to the senator had indicated he&#8217;d likely be &#8220;as good or better than his best days post-stroke,&#8221; adding, &#8220;He’s doing extremely well.&#8221;
Fellow Senator Bob Casey, also a Democrat from Pennsylvania, told <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/3924575-fetterman-set-to-return-to-senate-week-of-april-17/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hill</a> that he had visited Fetterman in recent days — and while he made it clear that he was not qualified to give a medical report on his colleague, he did say that he was pleased to see how well Fetterman appeared to be doing.
&#8220;It was just remarkable how good he looked, how good he sounded. My sense is he’ll be in better shape than he was even before his stroke. He’s really, really in good shape,&#8221; Casey said.
Senator Time Kaine (D-VA) said that in addition to Fetterman, he also expected to see Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) return around the same time frame.
&#8220;That’s what we’re hearing,&#8221; Kaine said. Feinstein has been missing from the deliberative body since February, when she announced that she had been diagnosed with shingles.
Also missing from the Senate in recent weeks has been Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who suffered a fall recently and sustained a rib fracture and a concussion.

Report Reveals When Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman Will Return

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