Even as more and more states — and entire countries — take a step back from prescribing puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones with relative abandon, a landmark 15-year study appears to confirm that &#8220;gender-confused&#8221; children and teens are more likely than not to &#8220;grow out of&#8221; their feelings of dysphoria.
The <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13263725/trans-kids-change-sex-adults-study.html?ns_mchannel=rss&amp;ns_campaign=1490&amp;ito=social-twitter_mailonline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netherlands-based study</a> included more than 2700 children beginning at age 11. They were asked every three years — into their mid-twenties—to describe their feelings about their own gender. While just over one in ten (11%) reported some degree of &#8220;non-contentedness&#8221; with their gender at some point during the study, by age 25, that number had dropped to one-in-25 (4%).
The study, titled the Tracking Adolescent&#8217;s Individual Lives Survey, began in 2001 and asked every participant to respond to this statement: &#8220;I wish to be of the opposite sex.&#8221;
They were asked to respond to that same statement every two to three years over the course of the 15-year study, and each time, they were given an array of choices:
<ul>
<li>0-Not True</li>
<li>1-Somewhat or Sometimes True</li>
<li>2-Very True or Often True</li>
</ul>
While the researchers did acknowledge some limitations to the study — namely that the participants were taken from the general population and had not necessarily been diagnosed with gender dysphoria — they still concluded that it lent weight to the idea that discontentment with gender was more common among teens than once they become adults.
&#8220;The results of the current study might help adolescents to realize that it is normal to have some doubts about one’s identity and one’s gender identity during this age period and that this is also relatively common,&#8221; the researchers, working from the University of Groningen, concluded.
Critics of radical gender theory were quick to point out that all the study really did was confirm what they had believed from the start: medical intervention for what is likely a phase and almost certainly has an emotional or psychological cause harms more children than it could ever help.
&#8220;There you have it. Now who is going to be held accountable for the many children that have been irreversibly damaged in our medical system due to the pushing of blind affirmation gender ideology? Anyone???&#8221; conservative pundit Amala Ekpunobi said.
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There you have it. Now who is going to be held accountable for the many children that have been irreversibly damaged in our medical system due to the pushing of blind affirmation gender ideology? Anyone??? <a href="https://t.co/gppg3q9w9g">https://t.co/gppg3q9w9g</a>
&mdash; Amala Ekpunobi (@amalaekpunobi) <a href="https://twitter.com/amalaekpunobi/status/1775603689425944849?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This study torpedoes any argument for medically making children look like the opposite sex. But for me, the &#8216;most&#8217; is irrelevant. One detransitioner is one too many, and no one should be offering &#8216;disguise as the opposite sex&#8217; as &#8216;medical treatment&#8217; *anyway*,&#8221; Duncan Henry added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This study torpedoes any argument for medically making children look like the opposite sex. 
But for me, the “most” is irrelevant. One detransitioner is one too many, and no one should be offering “disguise as the opposite sex” as “medical treatment” *anyway* <a href="https://t.co/iADRDoI2k2">https://t.co/iADRDoI2k2</a>
&mdash; Duncan (@DuncanHenry78) <a href="https://twitter.com/DuncanHenry78/status/1775599486724612470?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;
Patrick Brown, a fellow at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center, commented on the study although he was not involved in its execution.
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&#8220;This study provides even more reason to be skeptical towards aggressive steps to facilitate gender transition in childhood and adolescence,&#8221; he told The Daily Mail in a statement. &#8220;The fact that rates of satisfaction are lower even just a few years later suggests that for the vast majority of people, prudence and caution, rather than a rush towards permanent surgeries or hormone therapies, will be the best approach for teenagers struggling to make sense of the world and their place in it. As such, policies that prohibit gender transition for minors make a great deal of sense.&#8221;
Multiple states have already enacted <a href="https://www.hrc.org/resources/attacks-on-gender-affirming-care-by-state-map" target="_blank" rel="noopener">full or partial bans</a> on gender-related surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers for minors — and in recent weeks, both <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2024/03/23/french-les-republicains-medical-report-sex-reassignment/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">France</a> and Britain have signaled the possibility that they could pull back from prescribing similar medical interventions in cases of gender dysphoria in minors.

Transgender rights protest

‘Usually Just A Phase’: 15-Year Landmark Study Says Gender-Confused Kids Likely To ‘Grow Out Of It’

'Usually Just A Phase': 15-Year Landmark Study Says Gender-Confused Kids Likely To 'Grow Out Of It'

Gender Identity

gender ideology

Mental Health

Social Issues

study

Transgender

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?

Anxiety

Depression

Gen Z

Generation Z

Health Care

Readers Pass

Therapy

The Houston Police Department confirmed Monday that the woman who opened fire at Lakewood Church in Houston had a documented &#8220;mental health history&#8221; and her son was the child injured in the shooting. Authorities also obtained &#8220;anti-Semitic writing&#8221; during their investigation into the shooting.
On Sunday afternoon, 36-year-old Genesse Ivonne Moreno* walked into Lakewood Church in Houston with a long gun and a young child and opened fire before being shot dead by law enforcement at the scene. During a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2uQC_KX1bU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press conference</a> Monday afternoon, Houston PD Commander Chris Hassig said that Moreno &#8220;was put under an emergency detention order&#8221; in 2016 and &#8220;has a mental health history that is documented through us and through interviews with family members.&#8221;
The commander added that authorities recovered &#8220;anti-Semitic writing&#8221; and they believe there was &#8220;a familial dispute that has taken place between her ex-husband and her ex-husband&#8217;s family.&#8221;
Houston PD Chief Troy Finner said Moreno was the biological mother of a 7-year-old child who was shot during an exchange of gunfire between Moreno and two off-duty law enforcement officers. Finner added that the child is &#8220;fighting for his life&#8221; in critical condition, and a 57-year-old man who was also shot has since been released from the hospital.
Moreno, a woman, previously identified as Jeffrey Escalante, according to Texas Department of Public Safety records. She had a criminal history extending back nearly two decades to 2005 that included arrests for failure to stop and give information, assault of a public servant, assault causing bodily injury, forgery, possession of marijuana, theft, evading arrest, and unlawful carrying of a weapon.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨 BREAKING: Lakewood Church shooter identified as a transgender, legal name Genesse Moreno but went by the name “Jeffrey.” 🚨 <a href="https://t.co/0gmgybgOLC">pic.twitter.com/0gmgybgOLC</a>
&mdash; Sara Gonzales (@SaraGonzalesTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SaraGonzalesTX/status/1757068047553007739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Moreno opened fire in Joel Osteen&#8217;s mega-church, using an AR-15 with &#8220;Palestine&#8221; written on it, and authorities believe she acted as a &#8220;lone wolf&#8221; and was &#8220;not a part of a larger group.&#8221;
The shooting at Lakewood Church comes amid growing concern about recent mass shootings carried out by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nashville-christian-school-shooter-identified-as-transgender-authorities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trans-identifying</a> and “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/colorado-shooter-identifies-as-non-binary-uses-they-them-pronouns-court-documents" target="_blank" rel="noopener">non-binary</a>” shooters. One of the most <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tennessee-court-rules-that-parents-can-intervene-in-fight-over-release-of-nashville-shooters-manifesto" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prominent cases</a> occurred last year when a woman who identified as a man entered a Christian school in Nashville and murdered three children and three adults before she was killed by responding police officers.
*Reports on mass shootings typically do not name the shooter under Daily Wire policy, but in this case, the shooter’s name is a vital part of law enforcement records and thus necessary to the clear reporting of this story.

Lakewood Shooting

Child Critically Wounded In Church Shooting Is Son Of Shooter, ‘Anti-Semitic Writing’ Recovered: Police

Child Critically Wounded In Church Shooting Is Son Of Shooter, 'Anti-Semitic Writing' Recovered: Police

Church

Police

Shooting

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis ripped President Joe Biden&#8217;s handling of classified material in an interview over the weekend following Special Counsel Robert Hur&#8217;s report on the matter.
DeSantis made the remarks during an interview with Mark Levin after Hur&#8217;s report at the conclusion of his criminal investigation into Biden said that Biden &#8220;willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen&#8221; but that prosecutors &#8220;conclude that no criminal charges are warranted,&#8221; adding that they &#8220;also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury&#8230;as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.&#8221;
DeSantis suggested that the notion that Biden was &#8220;too senile&#8221; to stand trial means that he should not be viewed as competent enough to have the U.S.&#8217;s nuclear codes, and the 25th Amendment should be used to remove Biden from office if he really is not mentally capable.
&#8220;This was willful retention of documents over many decades, this was like a pattern and practice when he was a U.S. senator, when he was vice president, when he got out of office,&#8221; DeSantis said. &#8220;And I think back to the Hillary Clinton case which you and I both thought merited prosecution at the time. But Hillary, she set up that server, it wasn’t about classified, she just didn’t want her communications to be subjected to FOIA because of whatever she was doing, Clinton Foundation, who knows. So she was willing to risk exposure of classified by having this private server.&#8221;
&#8220;Biden, I think was even more willful because he was doing this for a pattern of practice,&#8221; he continued, noting that the special counsel &#8220;clearly had the goods&#8221; if he wanted to go forward and charge Biden.
&#8220;But they are hanging their hat on the fact that this guy is effectively not mentally competent to stand trial,&#8221; he said. &#8220;How pathetic is that for our country that this is the guy with the nuclear codes?&#8221;
DeSantis also accused the media of protecting Biden from scrutiny over his mental fitness for office, noting that if Biden were a Republican, things would be much different.
&#8220;If you had a Republican president or even a candidate who had the same level of mental acuity, same level of dementia as Joe Biden did, it would be a nonstop feeding frenzy by the corporate media,&#8221; DeSantis said. &#8220;The media has very much run cover and interference for Biden.&#8221;
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&#8220;I think the question is, is he went out on the press conference the other night, it was a disaster,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Did his staff not want him to do that or did they want him to do that knowing maybe this ends up causing the Democrat Party to look elsewhere come convention time? Because I can tell you as bad as Biden’s policies are, which is the main reason I’ve opposed him from the start, if you ask the average American voter, the thing they like least about him is the fact that he’s lost so much on his fastball and that he’s just not up to the job. That’s not something you can cure.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ron DeSantis says that Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report makes clear that Joe Biden’s mishandling of classified material was even worse than Hillary Clinton’s. <a href="https://t.co/OZ4m9tR8Pm">pic.twitter.com/OZ4m9tR8Pm</a>
&mdash; Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) <a href="https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1756920375076966676?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Fox News Hosts Town Hall With GOP Presidential Candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis In Des Moines, Iowa

DeSantis: If Biden ‘Too Senile’ To Stand Trial, He Should Be Removed Via 25th Amendment

aging

Executive

Joe Biden

Politics

Ron DeSantis

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley committed to taking a mental competency test over the weekend and called on President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to take one as well.
Haley, who is <a href="https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/republican-primary/2024/national">polling</a> far behind Trump in the Republican Party presidential primary, made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS News&#8217;s &#8220;Face The Nation.&#8221;
&#8220;So, Ambassador, you have made mental acuity a signature issue for your campaign for the better part of the past year,&#8221; Brennan said. &#8220;You&#8217;re handing out paper copies now of a cognitive assessment.&#8221;
&#8220;When do you plan to take it?&#8221; Brennan asked. &#8220;And are you at all concerned that you might turn off some older voters?&#8221;
Haley responded, &#8220;I have no problem taking it. And what I have said is, we need to have mental competency tests for anyone over the age of 75. I don&#8217;t care if we do it for 50 and up. But what happened with Joe Biden this week and what we&#8217;ve seen with Donald Trump is another example of why.&#8221;
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&#8220;We have to face the reality of the fact that, when you get to those ages, you get diminished,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;These are people making decisions on our national security. These are people making decisions on the future of our economy. We need to know they&#8217;re at the top of their game.&#8221;
During the rest of the interview, Haley repeatedly attacked Trump over remarks that he made about NATO and Russia as well as recent comments that Trump has made about Haley&#8217;s husband, Major Michael Haley, who is currently deployed in Africa with the South Carolina National Guard.
&#8220;It&#8217;s insulting to military members. It&#8217;s insulting to military families. And the part that bothers me is, he continues to do this. This isn&#8217;t personal about me and Michael. This is about what it says to every member who sacrifices for us,&#8221; she said. &#8220;This is about what it says to every military family who sacrifices alongside of them. We can&#8217;t have someone who sits there and mocks our men and women who are trying to protect America. It&#8217;s a pattern. It&#8217;s a pattern of chaos. It&#8217;s a pattern of irresponsibility. It&#8217;s a pattern of just saying things that are not helpful in strengthening America.&#8221;
&#8220;And this is a chance. America&#8217;s going to get to decide. We know what Donald Trump is. You could watch that whole rally yesterday, and it&#8217;ll tell you all kinds of things,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;But the thing is, do you want it again? We know what Joe Biden is. You can see the press conference. You can look at the special investigation that says he&#8217;s diminished. But do you want it again? I mean, the one thing we need to understand is, for Republicans, with Donald Trump, he lost in 2018. He lost in 2020. He lost in 2022.&#8221;
Haley also took aim at Trump for going on an &#8220;unhinged rant&#8221; after the New Hampshire primary.
&#8220;All he did was talk about revenge. And then you look, he said anyone that supported me was barred permanently from MAGA. Then he pushed the RNC to name him the presumptive nominee. Then he lost his court case and he went on a rant again,&#8221; she said. &#8220;The problem with all of that is at no point is he ever talking about the American people. He&#8217;s never talking about the fact that we have wasteful spending and we&#8217;re $34 trillion in debt. He&#8217;s not talking about the fact that only 31 percent of eighth-graders in our country are proficient in reading. He&#8217;s not talking about an open border, where all it takes is one to have a 9/11 moment. He&#8217;s not talking about the lawlessness in our cities. And he&#8217;s not talking about anything about the wars that are happening around the world. That&#8217;s the problem. That&#8217;s what we&#8217;re facing when this decision comes down in the election.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Nikki Haley says Trump &quot;mocks our men and women who are trying to protect America&quot;" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FXjAQhi7-f0?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

US-POLITICS-VOTE-HALEY

Nikki Haley Commits To Taking Mental Competency Test, Calls On Trump, Biden To Take One

Donald Trump

Elections

Nikki Haley

Actor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/celebrities">Kumail Nanjiani</a> said that the terrible reviews of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marvel">Marvel</a> film “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/movies">Eternals</a>” in 2021 affected his mental health so much that he went to therapy for it. 
“The reviews were bad, and I was too aware of it,” the 45-year-old <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/kumail-nanjiani-counseling-eternals-bad-reviews-1235817946/">said</a> during a recent appearance on the podcast “Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum,” per The Hollywood Reporter. “I was reading every review and checking too much.”
“It was really, really hard because Marvel thought that movie was going to be really, really well reviewed, so they lifted the embargo early and put it in some fancy movie festivals and they sent us on a big global tour to promote the movie right as the embargo lifted,” Nanjiani explained. 
Their plan backfired, however, and led to the actors promoting the film as many reviewers heaped criticism on it.
“I think there was some weird soup in the atmosphere for why that movie got slammed so much, and I think not much of it has to do with the actual quality of the movie,” the actor said. “It was really hard, and that was when I thought it was unfair to me and unfair to [my wife] Emily, and I can’t approach my work this way anymore. Some sh** has to change, so I started <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mental-health">counseling</a>. I still talk to my therapist about that.”
“Emily says that I do have trauma from it,” Nanjiani continued. “We actually just got dinner with somebody else from that movie and we were like, ‘That was tough, wasn’t it?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah, that was really tough,’ and I think we all went through something similar.”
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&#8220;Eternals&#8221; is a superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics race of humanoids. It was directed and co-written by Chloé Zhao and features an ensemble cast of big-name stars, including Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington, and others. The movie grossed $402 million worldwide and received some awards and nominations, but it was also plagued by bad reviews and mostly panned by critics as not meeting expectations.
The Marvel film currently has a 47% critic score and 77% audience rating on <a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eternals">Rotten Tomatoes</a>. “Clearly, we&#8217;re supposed to leave the cinema filled with an urgent sense of anticipation. But all I felt was relief that the two-and-a-half hour running time had finally come to an end,” the Sydney Morning Herald reviewer <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/culture/movies/the-eternals-question-has-the-marvel-universe-become-too-complicated-20211104-p595vj.html">said</a>.

Kumail Nanjiani

Marvel Actor Said He Had ‘Trauma’ From ‘Eternals’ Bad Reviews, Went To Therapy For It

Marvel Actor Said He Had 'Trauma' From 'Eternals' Bad Reviews, Went To Therapy For It

Celebrities

Entertainment

Marvel

U.S.

President Joe Biden prompted a string of mocking replies when he engaged in a discussion about mental health and emotional well-being with the &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; muppet character Elmo.
Elmo started the exchange by &#8220;checking in&#8221; on X, asking how everyone was doing — and then followed up with a promise to do so again in the future: &#8220;Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.&#8221;
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Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing. Elmo will check in again soon, friends! Elmo loves you.❤️ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EmotionalWellBeing?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EmotionalWellBeing</a> <a href="https://t.co/jhn2LNKfHf">pic.twitter.com/jhn2LNKfHf</a>
&mdash; Elmo (@elmo) <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1752378693446508842?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 30, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Biden responded, littering his reply with &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; references and reminding his followers to check in with their friends as well.
&#8220;I know how hard it is some days to sweep the clouds away and get to sunnier days,&#8221; he said. &#8220;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.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I know how hard it is some days 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&#39;s hard, you&#39;re never alone. <a href="https://t.co/ffMJekbowo">https://t.co/ffMJekbowo</a>
&mdash; President Biden (@POTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1752518567239536821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Several responded to the post by pointing out the fact that three American service members had just died in an attack perpetrated by Iranian proxies — and that in that context, Biden&#8217;s post had missed the mark.
&#8220;Biden still hasn’t punished Iran for killing three American soldiers. Instead he’s tweeting about Elmo,&#8221; one said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Biden still hasn’t punished Iran for killing three American soldiers
Instead he’s tweeting about Elmo <a href="https://t.co/mqWgqUKmrB">https://t.co/mqWgqUKmrB</a>
&mdash; John Hasson (@SonofHas) <a href="https://twitter.com/SonofHas/status/1752524941671502265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Bro we lost three service members in a terrorist attack and the president is tweeting about sesame street,&#8221; another replied.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Bro we lost three service members in a terrorist attack and the president is tweeting about sesame street <a href="https://t.co/01DSWOxEXn">https://t.co/01DSWOxEXn</a>
&mdash; Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) <a href="https://twitter.com/ComfortablySmug/status/1752532386804289606?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Country wrapped in another foreign broader conflict with Iran, who backed proxies murdering US troops. Current President — &#8216;What the puppet said,'&#8221; Stephen Miller said.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1706813616678000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3cSk2947NCSD6M3f86lFiY">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Country wrapped in another foreign broader conflict with Iran, who backed proxies murdering US troops. 
Current President &#8211; &quot;What the puppet said.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ETLhnBvm9A">https://t.co/ETLhnBvm9A</a>
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1752521996166975731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;This is worse than anything Donald Trump ever tweeted,&#8221; Miller added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
This is worse than anything Donald Trump ever tweeted. <a href="https://t.co/ETLhnBvm9A">https://t.co/ETLhnBvm9A</a>
&mdash; Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) <a href="https://twitter.com/redsteeze/status/1752521381839827409?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Not a parody account. Really,&#8221; Joe Concha observed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Not a parody account. Really. <a href="https://t.co/z49NimN4PI">https://t.co/z49NimN4PI</a>
&mdash; Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeConchaTV/status/1752653568320868654?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;I feel so much better now,&#8221; added The Daily Wire host Andrew Klavan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
I feel so much better now. <a href="https://t.co/BkdkQExMuP">https://t.co/BkdkQExMuP</a>
&mdash; Andrew Klavan (@andrewklavan) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewklavan/status/1752638839003242563?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 31, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&nbsp;

President Biden Departs White House For Florida

Biden Mocked For Bizarre Exchange About Mental Health … With Elmo

Sesame Street

Television

The people behind the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/twitter">X</a> account for Elmo, the popular <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sesame-street">Sesame Street</a> puppet, received a huge response after posting a simple question.
“Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?” the post said. 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
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>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
It has since gone viral, with more than 177 million views since it was first shared Monday morning. Many of the replies were especially dismal, which led to the Sesame Street account sharing a link to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mental-health">mental health</a> resources. 
“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,” one popular reply <a href="https://twitter.com/ContrarianGuild/status/1752050293984960790">said</a>. 
“Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here,” another user <a href="https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/1752109876958925076">wrote</a>.
“Not good, Elmo. Not good,” echoed a third.
“The world is burning, Elmo. No amount of tickles can fix this,” Not the Bee answered.
Actress Rachel Zegler, who recently faced major backlash for her comments about Disney’s upcoming live action version of “Snow White,” also <a href="https://twitter.com/rachelzegler/status/1752020801648296343?s=20">replied</a> to Elmos’s post, saying she was “resisting the urge to tell elmo that i am kinda sad.”
“Wow! Elmo is glad he asked! Elmo learned that it is important to ask a friend how they are doing,” the &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; character wrote in a <a href="https://twitter.com/elmo/status/1752378693446508842">follow-up</a>. “Elmo will check in again soon, friends!  Elmo loves you.❤️ #EmotionalWellBeing”
This prompted President Joe Biden’s X account to also <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1752518567239536821">share</a> a message about mental health.
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1700760801843000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PQrVSrJfhxNb4LcARqniG">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
“I know how hard it is some days to sweep the clouds away and get to sunnier days,” the post from the president said. “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.”
This isn’t the first time Sesame Street accounts have caused a stir on social media. Last June, they got trashed for a post celebrating Pride Month, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sesame-street-dragged-on-twitter-for-sharing-progress-pride-flag">reported</a>.
“On our Street, we celebrate inclusion, belonging, and freedom of authentic self-expression. Happy #PrideMonth to all the people in our neighborhoods!” the post said, along with a rainbow array of hearts following the text. An image attached depicts a colorful cartoon garden with the Progress Pride flag in the center of it.
Many fans pushed back against the messaging, especially since it comes from PBS and is aimed at young children.

Elmo

Elmo Checks In With Followers On X, Post Goes Viral With Messages Of Hopelessness

Twitter

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley criticized former President Donald Trump over the weekend over his mental fitness for office as well as the non-stop chaos that she says he&#8217;s always involved in.
Haley made the remarks during a Sunday CBS News interview with Margaret Brennan on &#8220;Face The Nation&#8221; ahead of the New Hampshire primaries this week.
Brennan showed video of Trump blaming Haley last week for some of the events of January 6, despite Haley having nothing to do with the events of that day. It appears that Trump misspoke, confusing Haley for then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
&#8220;Is that the first time you questioned his mental fitness?&#8221; Brennan asked.
&#8220;If you look, recently, there have been multiple things,&#8221; Haley said. &#8220;I mean, he&#8217;s claimed that Joe Biden was going to get us into World War II. I&#8217;m assuming he met World War III. He said that he ran against President Obama. He never ran against President Obama. He says that I&#8217;m the one that kept security from Jan- from the Capitol on January 6. I was nowhere near the Capitol on January 6. But Margaret, you don&#8217;t be surprised if you have someone that&#8217;s 80 in office, their mental stability is going to continue to decline.&#8221;
She said that while she served in the Trump administration, she did not see anything that made her question Trump&#8217;s mental fitness for office but said at times she had to call him out on things and encourage him to make different decisions.
She said that Trump is not at the same level as he was in 2016 and that the bigger problem was that &#8220;no matter what it is, chaos follows him. Rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him.&#8221;
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&#8220;In some cases, he causes it. In some cases, he doesn&#8217;t,&#8221; she continued. &#8220;But regardless, he&#8217;s like a magnet to it. And so what happens is that puts the rest of America in chaos, and people are tired, and they&#8217;re worried. I mean, kids right now in their 20s, they don&#8217;t know if they&#8217;re ever going to be able to afford a home. They don&#8217;t know how this debt is gonna get paid down. They don&#8217;t know if they&#8217;re gonna find a job. You see people living- 60% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. People talk about the economy that Donald Trump had us in, it was good, but he put us $8 trillion in debt in just four years. That&#8217;s not what you do.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Nikki Haley says Trump &quot;tried to buddy up with dictators&quot; while in office" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/D3qs1huQAHU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Republican Presidential Candidate Nikki Haley Campaigns In New Hampshire

Nikki Haley: Chaos Follows Trump ‘Like A Magnet,’ ‘People Are Tired’ Of It

A recently released <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">medical study</a> from researchers from Maastricht University and the University of Exeter discovered more than a dozen factors that experts say are strongly linked to young-onset dementia (YOD).
The <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaneurology/article-abstract/2813439" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> was published in JAMA Neurology late last month after researchers analyzed more than 356,052 participants in the U.K. Biobank as an estimated 4 million people worldwide between ages 30 and 64 are living with YOD.
The 15 factors researchers discovered that were &#8220;significantly associated&#8221; with a higher risk of developing YOD included:
<ul>
<li>Lower formal education</li>
<li>Lower socioeconomic status</li>
<li>Carrying 2 apolipoprotein ε4 allele, which is considered to be the strongest genetic risk factor for late onset Alzheimer’s disease.</li>
<li>No alcohol use</li>
<li>Alcohol use disorder</li>
<li>Social isolation</li>
<li>Vitamin D deficiency</li>
<li>High C-reactive protein levels</li>
<li>Lower handgrip strength</li>
<li>Hearing impairment</li>
<li>Orthostatic hypotension</li>
<li>Stroke</li>
<li>Diabetes</li>
<li>Heart disease</li>
<li>Depression.</li>
</ul>
Lead study author Stevie Hendriks, a postdoctoral researcher in psychiatry and neuropsychology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/26/health/early-dementia-risk-study-wellness/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN that the findings “changes our understanding of young-onset dementia, challenging the notion that genetics are the sole cause of the condition and highlighting that a range of risk factors may be important.”
“In addition to physical factors, mental health also plays an important role, including avoiding chronic stress, loneliness and depression,” he added. “The fact that this is also evident in young-onset dementia came as a surprise to us, and it may offer opportunities to reduce risk in this group too.”
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Dr. Richard Isaacson, director of research at the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Florida, told CNN that he believes people have the ability to &#8220;fight against early onset cognitive decline.&#8221;
&#8220;My clinical experience much more closely aligns with results of this new study — that it truly may be possible to grab the bull by the horns, and be proactive about certain lifestyle and other health factors, to reduce risk,&#8221; he said.

Alzheimer’s and dementia research, conceptual image

Medical Study Finds 15 Factors That ‘Significantly’ Increase Risk Of Dementia In Young People

Medical Study Finds 15 Factors That 'Significantly' Increase Risk Of Dementia In Young People

Health

Medical

U.K.

Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/john-fetterman" target="_blank" rel="noopener">John Fetterman</a> (D-PA) is sharing what it is like to have &#8220;dark&#8221; conversations with one&#8217;s self about self-harm after he grappled with depression earlier this year.
In a &#8220;Meet the Press&#8221; interview that aired on NBC on Sunday, Fetterman discussed hitting the &#8220;emergency break&#8221; and getting treatment, <a href="https://www.clickorlando.com/news/politics/2023/12/31/sen-fetterman-says-he-thought-news-about-his-depression-treatment-would-end-his-political-career/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the Associated Press</a>.
“This is a conversation that I’ve had with myself and anybody that knows they’re unable to address their depression, is they start to have dark conversations with themself about self-harm,&#8221; Fetterman said. &#8220;And things continued to kind of tick off the list. And then I kind of hit the emergency brake.&#8221;
Fetterman checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in February and received treatment for clinical depression after sustaining a stroke that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/10/us/politics/john-fetterman-senate-stroke.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">nearly killed him</a> and left the senator with <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/fetterman-no-work-restrictions-auditory-processing-issues-continue-doc-rcna52982" target="_blank" rel="noopener">auditory processing complications</a> during the 2022 campaign. He was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sen-john-fetterman-released-from-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">released</a> in May when the doctor said Fetterman had achieved a statement of remission.
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Fetterman told reporter Kristen Welker that he thought going public with inpatient treatment &#8220;would be the end of my career&#8221; and explained how he &#8220;walked off&#8221; with restricted contact with the outside world during his stay at Walter Reed.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
WATCH: Sen. <a href="https://twitter.com/JohnFetterman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JohnFetterman</a> (D-Pa.) says depression is a “real thing” that “needs to be addressed” after speaking publicly about his own battle with it. 
“If you don’t address it, you run the risk of the very dark conversation with yourself.” <a href="https://t.co/0Fkc6glc5n">pic.twitter.com/0Fkc6glc5n</a>
&mdash; Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) <a href="https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1741463328797458643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 31, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He said his <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-john-fetterman-opens-mental-health-struggles-rcna131147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&#8220;watershed moment</a>&#8221; happened when his children came to visit him for the first time, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/sen-john-fetterman-opens-mental-health-struggles-rcna131147" target="_blank" rel="noopener">per NBC News</a>. “I was overwhelmed that they embraced me and they were so happy to see me,” Fetterman said. “It was like a breakthrough.&#8221;
Fetterman, who has since established himself as a maverick in the Democratic Party with his stance on border security and declaring he is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/-not-progressive-fetterman-breaks-left-israel-immigration-rcna129747" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not a progressive</a> while touting support for Israel, emphasized that depression is a &#8220;real thing&#8221; that &#8220;needs to be addressed&#8221; to conquer a sense of hopelessness.
He also said he wanted people who are experiencing depression to know &#8220;no matter how bad it might &#8230; look right now, I&#8217;m begging you, it&#8217;s not that bad, it&#8217;s not that bad. And even if you think that&#8217;s true, hold on. Just, you got to hold on. And you can&#8217;t imagine how much better it can get if you make the investment and the commitment to just hold that line and work to get better.&#8221;
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" data-stringify-link="http://988lifeline.org" data-sk="tooltip_parent">988lifeline.org</a>.

Senator John Fetterman

Fetterman Opens Up About ‘Dark’ Conversations During Depression

Fetterman Opens Up About 'Dark' Conversations During Depression

Congress

John Fetterman

U.S. Senate

Around a century ago, the Spanish Flu <a href="https://www.paho.org/en/who-we-are/history-paho/purple-death-great-flu-1918" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed</a> 700,000 people in this country. In terms of casualty count, that pandemic was deadlier than both World Wars, plus the wars in Vietnam and Korea, combined. The average life expectancy in this country <a href="https://blogs.cdc.gov/publichealthmatters/2018/05/1918-flu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped</a> by 12 years virtually overnight. Many of the dead were young people.
And yet, as the pandemic subsided, according to historians who have extensively documented this whole episode, life <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/09/01/1918-flu-pandemic-end/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">returned to normal</a> in just a couple of years. Society didn&#8217;t reorder itself. There were no permanent changes to election law. Mail-in balloting didn&#8217;t become the norm. Clusters of effete Leftists in San Francisco and Portland didn&#8217;t insist on wearing masks for years afterwards. Things progressed. People moved on.
Fast forward a century to the post-COVID era and, as you may have noticed, the exact opposite happened. Instead of moving on, elected officials have opted to indefinitely extend COVID policies, wherever possible. Some of these efforts are obvious. I just alluded to a few of them. But some of these efforts are not so obvious. In fact they&#8217;ve gotten basically no major media coverage whatsoever, even though they could affect your children in profound ways.
In particular, with COVID as the pretext initially, there&#8217;s now a large-scale effort underway to transform schools into mini-hospitals, all for the benefit of a handful of startups that are funded out of Silicon Valley. You thought the point of school was to provide an education for your child, but that&#8217;s not the case anymore. Now the point is to turn students into patients, in order to enrich investors in California. School is now, supposedly, a one-stop shop for all your children&#8217;s educational and medical and psychiatric needs.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/231207me" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
According to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-failed-promise-of-online-mental-health-treatment-11671390353" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research</a> from the Kaiser Family Foundation, prior to COVID, there were, &#8220;essentially zero&#8221; Telehealth appointments for mental-health and substance-related issues. You could look throughout the entire country, and you&#8217;d find that it&#8217;s just not something that was done. Beginning around March of 2021, though, everything changed. That year, Telehealth technology exploded in popularity. It was used for more than one-third of all outpatient visits for these symptoms. Telehealth went from something no one used, to something more than 33 percent of patients nationwide were participating in. Nothing like that has ever happened before.
Many of these new patients were students, in grades K through 12. As the Associated Press reports this week, &#8220;Now at least 16 of the 20 largest U.S. public school districts are offering online therapy sessions to reach millions of students. &#8230; In those districts alone, schools have signed provider contracts worth more than $70 million.&#8221;
Have you heard about that? Unless you read the AP, probably not. You were never asked to vote on this. It just happened, whether you like it or not. One of the largest Telehealth providers in schools today is called &#8220;Hazel Health.&#8221; They&#8217;re active in more than 150 school districts, across 15 states. Just this year, the AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mental-health-counseling-school-hazel-bd7d650184decd94d4570e9841f1cedb" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a>, Hazel signed a $24 million contract with Los Angeles County to provide &#8220;tele-therapy&#8221; to more than a million students. Hazel has also signed <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/telehealth/hazel-health-nabs-51m-fund-school-based-physical-mental-health-expands-houston-hawaii" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lucrative deals</a> in Hawaii, Nevada, Florida, Texas, Washington, Georgia. A lot of taxpayer money is being spent, all of a sudden, on in-school therapy for kids. Tens of millions more dollars spent by the school system, to go along with the billions that it wastes. 
But the bigger issue, beyond the cost of all of this, is that schools shouldn&#8217;t be handling any of it in the first place. This is maybe the most egregious example of &#8220;mission creep&#8221; in modern history. It should go without saying that schools are not hospitals and they’re not mental health facilities. Outside of dealing with minor injuries — which school nurses can handle, and have always been able to handle — schools should not be offering full-service medical care, least of all psychiatric care. They certainly shouldn&#8217;t be promoting mental health treatments via the Internet. 
This is the biggest problem, and the thing we should all be stopping to think about. Why are schools spending tens of millions of dollars to offer therapy to kids? 
It used to be — back in my day — that the school guidance counselor was really just the school&#8217;s version of an HR rep for the students. You’d talk to the guidance counselor if you have some kind of issue with another student, or a teacher, or whatever. She would give you a sticker or a coloring book and send you on your way. The guidance counselor’s role was relatively narrow. 
But now, increasingly, schools are taking it upon themselves to play shrink. They&#8217;re referring children to Zoom calls with anonymous doctors for talk therapy. And parents often have no idea what exactly is being said in these sessions. It&#8217;s true that parents have to consent to these Telehealth providers seeing their children, but beyond that, the whole point of the practice is that parents don&#8217;t have to come and get their kids. Parents can stay at their jobs. Meanwhile, a Telehealth provider is free to, say, affirm a child&#8217;s gender delusions, or misdiagnosis a serious illness.
There are a lot of issues here. One — and not even the biggest one — is the quality of care kids will receive. Time Magazine looked into this back in November of 2022. They <a href="https://time.com/6225361/telehealth-startups-cerebral-done-ahead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> at the time that, 
<blockquote>TIME interviewed six mental-health professionals who formerly worked for telepsych or substance-treatment startups, some of whom asked to remain anonymous because they still work in mental-health care. Regardless of their employer, they had similar complaints: appointments were too short to properly treat and assess patients; clinicians were overworked; and policies around prescribing drugs and treating complex cases often weren’t rigorous enough.</blockquote>
TIME also <a href="https://time.com/6225361/telehealth-startups-cerebral-done-ahead/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that, 
<blockquote>Federal investigators are probing prescription practices at Done and Cerebral, a popular startup that offers virtual therapy and medication management for depression, anxiety, insomnia, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and substance-use disorders for as little as $99 per month—and that some former employees have said overprescribes stimulants for ADHD. In May, pharmacy giants including CVS and Walmart stopped filling controlled-substance prescriptions from Cerebral and Done clinicians.</blockquote>
For its part, The Wall Street Journal found that, 
<blockquote>Done, run by a former Facebook product manager with no medical training, also advertises heavily on social media. Done’s clinicians continue to prescribe stimulants, sometimes after appointments as short as 10 minutes.</blockquote>
More broadly, when people go to Telehealth providers, they&#8217;re often being misdiagnosed. Researchers at the Mayo Clinic looked at around 2,400 patients who underwent a video Telehealth consultation, followed by an in-person visit for the same problem. They <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2795871">found</a> that in 13 percent of cases, the diagnosis didn&#8217;t match up. That might not seem like a lot — and indeed, the Mayo Clinic touts this as a positive number. But it&#8217;s not. It means that out of just 2,400 people, more than 300 of them were misdiagnosed. That, it would seem to me, is obviously a major problem.
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It&#8217;s no secret why these businesses have appeared out of nowhere, and immediately acquired an enormous amount of funding. Children and young adults are experiencing extraordinarily high levels of mental distress in this country. This year alone, more than 60 percent of teenage girls reported feeling persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. The director of the CDC&#8217;s school health division, Kathleen Ethier, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/education-health-pandemics-teens-cd01cd672539d6a3dbada46bfa47203a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that in 30 years of collecting data on depression among young people, &#8220;we&#8217;ve never seen this kind of devastating, consistent findings.&#8221;
When you look at the long-term data, you can see why the CDC is saying that. According to a recent report in Education Week, CDC data <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/why-america-has-a-youth-mental-health-crisis-and-how-schools-can-help/2023/10">shows</a> that, 
<blockquote>Forty-two percent of high school students in 2021 reported feeling so sad or hopeless for at least two consecutive weeks in the previous year that they stopped engaging in their usual activities, up from 26 percent in 2009.</blockquote>
So children are more depressed than they&#8217;ve been in a very long time. And now they&#8217;re being &#8220;treated&#8221; with a brand-new form of &#8220;Telehealth talk therapy” — therapy offered in school — even though there&#8217;s very little evidence that talk therapy actually accomplishes anything. Just this year, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/16/magazine/does-therapy-work.html">reported</a> that a recent meta-analysis found that, &#8220;more than half of the patients receiving therapy [for depression] had little or no benefit.&#8221; A 2022 paper out of Germany, meanwhile, determined that, “After more than half a century of research” and “millions of invested funds,&#8221; the positive impact of therapy and medication was, “limited.”
In other words, a lot of people relied on therapy to fix their problems, and therapy did absolutely nothing for them. In fact, especially if they were counting on this therapy to fix their issues, it may have made their mental problems even worse. That&#8217;s the very thin evidence that supports in-person talk therapy. The evidence supporting Zoom therapy is even more scant. There&#8217;s really no reason to think that it helps at all. 
So this is another area where we are essentially conducting psychological experiments on children. “Hey let’s see what happens when we have kids sit in therapy sessions with some random person over Zoom! Maybe it will help them, maybe it will screw them up more. Let’s find out!” There’s a lot of this kind of thing going around.
Across the country, many school districts, and many parents, are allowing this to take place. And they&#8217;re doing it, ostensibly, because of the widely reported “mental health crisis” with our kids. But the problem is that there&#8217;s a lot of confusion about the cause of this crisis. Usually the problem is blamed on an epidemic of “bullying.&#8221; I mentioned the AP article about the, as they put it, “booming business of online therapy,” which schools are now turning to, and spending tens of millions of dollars on. That article starts with an anecdote about a young girl who was bullied in school, called fat and ugly, and so she is now in online therapy with whatever therapist her school connected her with. The obvious implication is that this is why we need our schools to increasingly provide psychiatric care to kids. Because of all the bullying that goes on.
But kids have always been bullied. Arguably, if you&#8217;ve ever listened to your parents or grandparents talk about their public school horror stories, bullying used to be considerably worse than it is these days. And back then, kids weren’t going to therapy over it. They certainly weren’t going to therapy at school. They also generally weren’t psychologically devastated by the bullying to the same degree that kids today are. Because it is probably true that kids today are more anxious, confused, and depressed than ever before. Childhood suicide used to be basically unheard of. Now it&#8217;s a growing epidemic. So something is going on here. There is a major problem. And the schools have come up with all kinds of schemes to allegedly help solve it, which now includes putting millions of kids in therapy during school hours.
But it’s not helping, and it won’t, because the people addressing the mental health crisis don’t understand where it comes from. Here’s where it comes from: What lies behind it is a deliberate effort to psychologically and spiritually destabilize our children. This is an effort that&#8217;s been undertaken in large part by the school system itself, which now pretends that it wants to solve the problem that it is actively helping to create. Our children are lost, untethered, vulnerable. That’s why they’re so incapable of coping with the kinds of challenges that kids in the past handled relatively easily. It’s because of the conditioning they’ve been subjected to.
Kids are indoctrinated into a worldview where reality is uncertain, truth doesn&#8217;t exist, their own biological identity is fluid and subject to change, their country is evil, their ancestors were bigoted troglodytes. They&#8217;re taught to be suspicious of their own families and their parents. For years, they were told to stay inside, and not talk to anyone, because they might spread a virus that had a minuscule chance of causing them any harm whatsoever. If they&#8217;re white, they are taught to hate their own race. If male, to hate their own sex. They are severed from all anchors of meaning and purpose, and then we look around and wonder why they&#8217;re all so depressed. Then we send them to therapists who invariably will enforce the indoctrination that put them in this state of psychological distress in the first place.
But schools aren&#8217;t even doing that, really. They&#8217;re not bothering to refer kids to the psychiatrist&#8217;s office. Now schools are simply putting iPads in front of childrens&#8217; faces, and connecting them with TikTok nurses who will affirm every delusion they have. They&#8217;re doing this allegedly to save parents some time, but in reality it&#8217;s about making a few Big Tech startups a lot of money, and about solidifying the indoctrination they’re getting in school.
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And so far, parents are going along with it.
In school districts all over the country, they&#8217;re handing their kids over to Zoom shrinks while they stay at work. All the while, they&#8217;ll just have to hope that their children don&#8217;t get the wrong diagnosis, or receive a prescription for some drug they don&#8217;t need, or end up with more mental problems than they already had. 
We&#8217;re told this is the future of medicine. And whether you like it or not, whether you consented to it or not, it&#8217;s probably on its way to your child&#8217;s school.

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