The Daily Wire recently featured <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-a-california-psychology-student-exposed-the-dark-side-of-therapy-education" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the shocking and sad story</a> of Naomi Epps Best’s struggle for toleration in a graduate marriage and family therapy program at Santa Clara University.
Best describes outrageous violations of privacy, decency, and traditional religious values — which are made all the more outrageous by the fact that they occurred at a Catholic university.
Santa Clara is an extreme case. But it’s part of an unfortunate trend among Catholic colleges and universities. These schools believe they must become like secular universities in order to achieve academic excellence and adequately prepare their students for the workforce.
One example of a Catholic university that has self-consciously stood against this self-immolation of Catholic schools for over 50 years is Franciscan University of Steubenville.
We are driven by a different conviction: that the Gospel can be integrated with the intellectual life and with rigorous formation in the various professional disciplines, and without a loss to these disciplines.
Christian values are not an obstacle to excellent formation in the mental health professions. Teachers do not need to demonstrate their willingness to contradict Christian teaching by promoting perverse sexual practices in the classroom, and students do not need to set aside their deepest convictions about what gives life meaning and purpose in order to serve others in the noble professions of marriage and family therapy, counseling, psychology, or social work.
So, what should Naomi Epps Best have experienced in a graduate mental health program at a Catholic university?
Fundamentally, education in the mental health professions at a Catholic university should be committed to providing students with formation shaped both by faith and reason in a therapeutic context. Reason embraces all that psychological sciences have to offer in understanding the human person individually and in context, including the human bodily and emotional experience, the relational dimension, the intellect, the will, and the spiritual nature of being human.
No professional program in the mental health field with a goal of training skilled, knowledgeable professionals who embody the dispositions necessary to the mental health practice can do without the knowledge that comes from psychological research or the wisdom hard-won from clinicians working daily in the field.
At the same time, as St. John Paul II stated, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth.” Faith and revelation offer a window into the mystery of the human person that one cannot glean from science alone, and provide a means to discerning truth in a field where relativistic views tend to be preferred.
A Catholic mental health training program should invite its students to consider clinical practice in light of the revealed truth of the Christian faith. In this way, students in a Catholic university have a way to analyze ideas, research, and treatment techniques from the perspective of a Christian understanding of the human person.
Very often, the psychological sciences and faith align wonderfully, allowing students to have confidence in the treatment techniques they study. Sometimes, though, widely endorsed clinical approaches that are part of the mental health fields — and the philosophies upon which theories are based — do not align with a Christian view of the person. At a Catholic university, students in a mental health training program must be given the tools to make these discernments.
How does this work in practice? It begins with crafting an environment where faith is a welcomed part of the clinical training program, and where students can grapple with questions about how the Christian faith can inform practice for the good, while being balanced by appropriate professional dispositions of respect for client differences.
It happens through faculty who are committed to asking students to analyze clinical and research-informed literature through the lens of the Christian faith and revelation. It happens when a program creates an ethos where students’ dignity, worth, and deeply-held values are respected.
For example, invitations to personal exploration that are common and necessary to training in mental health are balanced by basic reverence for personal privacy and modesty. Faculty can provide space for students at a Catholic university to actually live and express their Christian faith in the classroom, in clinical supervision, and even in the clinical setting with clients. Those same faculty can mentor their students in how not to see that faith as a detriment and how to manage its expression in a professionally appropriate and careful way.
When Catholic universities set aside their identity to strive for the esteem of the world, they’ll eventually end up with neither. Loosened from the Gospel and the Christian tradition, they’ll fall prey to the worst and most harmful trends in higher education and rightly earn the disdain of even the world.
Students like Naomi have options. We have welcomed her to complete her studies here, and other students should know that they need not suffer an assault on their Christian values as a rite of passage to become a mental health professional. There are places for them.
Dr. Stephen Hildebrand is the provost and a theology professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where Dr. Christin Jungers is the dean of the School of Professional Programs and a professor of mental health counseling.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Franciscan University of Steubenville campus and chapel

Here’s What Mental Health Studies Should Look Like At A Christian College

catholic university

Mental Health

Psychiatry

Sexual Harassment

Therapy

The official cause of death for legendary songwriter and Beach Boys founding member Brian Wilson was revealed on Thursday.
Wilson, who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/brian-wilson-beach-boys-founder-and-legendary-songwriter-dead-at-82">passed away</a> weeks ago at the age of 82, died of respiratory arrest, according to a death certificate obtained by entertainment website <a href="https://www.tmz.com/2025/06/26/brian-wilson-cause-of-death/">TMZ</a>. Respiratory arrest, the site explained, occurs when the heart is still beating, but the lungs cease to function, thus failing to deliver oxygen to the body.
Several other conditions were listed as contributing factors in the musician&#8217;s death, including sepsis, cystitis, neurodegenerative disorder, chronic kidney disease and respiratory failure, and obstructive sleep apnea.
Wilson was just 19 when he founded the iconic band alongside brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine — and the group made the laid-back surfing vibe into a musical movement. They solidified themselves as rock stars with 1966&#8217;s Pet Sounds album, which included standouts like &#8220;Good Vibrations&#8221; and &#8220;God Only Knows.&#8221;
Wilson struggled publicly with his mental health in his later years, once telling <a href="https://people.com/brian-wilson-dead-82-beach-boys-singer-co-founder-8548234">People Magazine</a>, &#8220;I’ve been through a great deal of mental anguish. I felt like a fat slob. It was very embarrassing. I used to go onstage and it was scary. Now I’m getting used to it. I feel a little more confidence in myself.&#8221;
He was placed under a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-beach-boys-member-brian-wilson-under-conservatorship-due-to-dementia-diagnosis">conservatorship</a> just over a year before he died — and following the death of his wife, Melinda — due to a &#8220;major neurocognitive disorder.&#8221;
&#8220;This decision was made to ensure that there will be no extreme changes to the household and Brian and the children living at home will be taken care of and remain in the home where they are cared for by Gloria Ramos and the wonderful team at the house who have been in place for many years helping take care of the family,&#8221; a statement from his family read. &#8220;Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects as well as participate in any activities he chooses.&#8221;

Brian Wilson

Cause Of Death Revealed For Beach Boys Legend Brian Wilson

Celebrities

Music

Music Industry

U.S.

Angry woman screaming through spiral cables

Democrats Are Gaining Ground With One Key Demographic: The Mentally Ill

Democrats

Leftists

Liberals

Matt Walsh

Mental Illness

Nate Silver

Opinion

Republicans

Voters

On Thursday, Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/05-22-2025-Letter-to-Dr.-OConnor.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to former White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, alerting him that he is being investigated for his medical assessments of former President Joe Biden, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
“The Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating the accuracy, transparency, and credibility of your medical assessments of former President Joe Biden given his recent acknowledgment of an advanced physical condition and a publicly apparent cognitive decline,” Comer wrote, noting that the Committee had first written to O’Connor on July 7, 2024, 10 days after the Trump-Biden debate in which Biden had shown clear signs of a mental decline.
“Biden White House officials stalled all attempts by the Committee to obtain your testimony,” Comer recalled. “In light of mounting evidence that confirms the Committee’s initial observation that President Biden was significantly unwell while serving in office, the Committee seeks information to ensure accurate information was provided to the American people and your health reports were not subject to any improper influence.”
Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan asked White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Monday if the White House would further scrutinize O&#8217;Connor.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a>: &quot;Is there interest in further scrutiny of Kevin O&#39;Connor, the former president&#39;s physician?&quot;<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a>: &quot;[President Trump] wanted to extend his warmest wishes to the former president &#8230; as for any further action, I&#39;ll let the President speak on that first.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/XTogdSMjSQ">pic.twitter.com/XTogdSMjSQ</a>
&mdash; Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1924461438095016436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
In early July 2024, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said, “Dr. O’Connor is a world class medical professional” whose “unique expertise is sought across the medical community, in which he is respected for his candor, attention to detail, and work ethic,” The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/06/kevin-oconnor-biden-doctor-cognitive-tests-debate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
O’Connor, an osteopathic physician who <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/07/06/kevin-oconnor-biden-doctor-cognitive-tests-debate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">became</a> Biden’s doctor in 2009, said in February 2024 that Biden was “a healthy, active, robust 81-year-old male, who remains fit to successfully execute the duties of the Presidency.”
The committee is also investigating whether O&#8217;Connor&#8217;s “financial relationship with the Biden family affected [his] assessment” of the former president&#8217;s fitness to serve. 
“Given your connections with the Biden family, the Committee seeks to understand if you contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden’s fitness to serve from the American people,” Comer warned, mentioning Special Counsel Robert Hur’s interview with Biden that had depicted Biden as deteriorating mentally.
Looking forward, Comer stated, “The Committee seeks information about your assessment of and relationship with former President Biden to explore whether the time has come for Congress to revisit potential legislation to address the oversight of presidents’ fitness to serve pursuant to its authority under Section 4 of the Twenty-Fifth <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/amendments/amendment-xxv">Amendment</a>.”
In August 2020, Biden, then 77, was asked whether he had taken a cognitive test. “Why the hell would I take a test?” he answered testily.
“We request you make yourself available for a transcribed interview on June 25, 2025,” Comer concluded.

US-POLITICS-EDUCATION-BIDEN

House GOP Investigating Biden’s Doc, Who Said He Was ‘Fit’ To ‘Execute The Duties Of The Presidency’

House GOP

James Comer

Joe Biden

Kevin O'Connor

White House aides considered getting then-President Joe Biden a cognitive test months before he dropped out of the 2024 election, but decided against it, according to a new book.
The book is titled “2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America” and was co-written by Tyler Pager of The New York Times, Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal, and Isaac Arnsdorf of The Washington Post. It is set to be released in July.
Biden’s aides were confident that the elderly president would ace a cognitive test, but worried that taking it would only raise more suspicion about Biden’s mental acuity and health, the book says, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/04/us/politics/joe-biden-cognitive-test-age.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
Discussions around a possible cognitive test for Biden were taking place in February 2024, the same month special counsel Robert Hur released a report on an investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents. In the report, Hur <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/special-counsel-biden-willfully-retained-disclosed-classified-materials-but-no-criminal-charges-warranted" target="_blank" rel="noopener">concluded</a> that Biden’s memory appeared impaired.
“Mr. Biden’s memory was significantly limited, both during his recorded interviews with the ghostwriter in 2017, and in his interview with our office in 2023,” the <a href="https://www.justice.gov/storage/report-from-special-counsel-robert-k-hur-february-2024.pdf">report</a> said. Hur cited Biden’s memory problems in the special counsel’s determination not to bring charges against Biden for mishandling classified information.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” the report said.
Biden later ended his bid for re-election, catapulting Vice President Kamala Harris into the Democratic nomination after he appeared feeble and, at times, incomprehensible during a debate with then-Republican candidate Donald Trump.
The White House, Democratic lawmakers, and media pundits maintained that Biden’s mind remained sharp until the former president’s debate against Trump. After the debate, there was intense pressure in the media and among Democratic donors for Biden to step aside and let someone else run for president.
Former Biden senior adviser Mike Donilon, who had worked with Biden for decades, told <a href="https://theharvardpoliticalreview.com/michael-donilon-interview/#google_vignette" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Harvard Political Review</a> in March that he still believes Biden should be president.
“On the topic of his age, I thought the best answer was going to be performance. I saw him every day. If you watched his farewell address, I think he had as clear and cogent an assessment of where the country is and the threats of the country as anyone’s ever given,” he said. “It was kind of bizarre that, on the one hand, there was this narrative that he was too old for the job when that very day, he was doing something that very few presidents have ever done.”

Biden Aides Considered Getting Him A Cognitive Test – But Thought It Too Politically Risky

Donald Trump

Executive

Health

Robert Hur

As Pennsylvania Democrat Senator John Fetterman has established himself as a staunch supporter of the state of Israel, Democrats who once championed him and dismissed the effects of a stroke he sustained are questioning his mental health.
Since the October 7 Hamas massacre of more than 1200 people in Israel, Fetterman has vigorously defended Israel’s right to defend itself.
After Fetterman endured a stroke in May 2022, his GOP opponent in the senatorial election, Dr. Mehmet Oz, joined other Republicans to suggest that Fetterman was unable to serve as a senator. But Democrats defended Fetterman: “Listen, Fetterman doesn’t need to debate him right now,” said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), as POLITICO <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/08/dems-give-fetterman-clean-bill-of-health-00055306" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. “Because he’s ahead. It’s still early. I think, ultimately, he will [debate]. And why should he help Oz’s campaign? Why does he need to do it now?”
Michigan Democrat Senator Gary Peters declared that Fetterman was “getting better every day. I’m completely comfortable” with his recovery. Pennsylvania Democrat Senator Bob Casey said he had visited 36 Pennsylvania counties and “didn’t hear a word about the question of his recovery from a stroke being an impediment to being either a good candidate or a good senator.”
“There’s no great mystery about whether or how well Fetterman can speak: You can watch him do so regularly on television,” New York Magazine <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/john-fetterman-dr-oz-pennsylvania-senate-race.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> in October 2022. “Every week, he makes fewer mistakes, stumbles a bit less, and gets clearer and more relaxed.”
But this week, New York Magazine <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/john-fetterman-struggle-mental-health-clinical-depression.html?utm_campaign=nym&amp;utm_medium=s1&amp;utm_source=twitter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, “John Fetterman insists he is in good health. But staffers past and present say they no longer recognize the man they once knew. &#8230; Former and current staffers paint a picture of an erratic senator who has become almost impossible to work for and whose mental-health situation is more serious and complicated than previously reported. No one is saying every controversial position (for example, his respectful relationship with Trump) stems from his mental health — but it’s become harder for them to tell which ones do.”
Much of the New York Magazine article focuses on Fetterman’s tough pro-Israel stance, e.g., “It wasn’t until October 7 that it became clear Fetterman was the most outspoken Israel hawk in his party, offering constant and unconditional support for the military action in Gaza. Early on in the conflict, 16 of his former campaign staffers wrote a letter — anonymously — saying they found his full-throated support for Israel to be a ‘gutting betrayal.’”
The article implied that Fetterman’s support for Israel affected his mind, writing, “The endless fights over Israel, which saw Fetterman draw further into himself, coincided with setbacks in his recovery regimen.”
But Fetterman is not backing down. On Sunday, responding to a headline in Reuters titled, “Iran says it will strike back if U.S. or Israel attack,” Fetterman fired back on X: “We cannot negotiate with Iran.  It’s time to destroy their nuclear program and neutralize the remaining capabilities of its proxies.  I remain steadfast with Israel. Provide whatever is necessary to carry this out.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
We cannot negotiate with Iran.
It’s time to destroy their nuclear program and neutralize the remaining capabilities of its proxies.
I remain steadfast with Israel. Provide whatever is necessary to carry this out. <a href="https://t.co/0oJ6MrjqwC">pic.twitter.com/0oJ6MrjqwC</a>
— U.S. Senator John Fetterman (@SenFettermanPA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenFettermanPA/status/1919119867078185003?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 4, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Challenges in Preserving the U.S. Housing Stock

As Fetterman Defends Israel, Dems Suddenly Question His Mental Health

Congress

Israel

John Fetterman

Politics

Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill into law on Friday to limit the social media use of minors under the age of 16 to one hour per day.
The Consumer Data Protection Act, supported by both Republican and Democrat state lawmakers, will require social media platforms, like Facebook and Instagram, to limit minors&#8217; time on such platforms.
Platforms will use &#8220;neutral age screen mechanisms&#8221; to determine the age of users and then limit their screen-time accordingly, Wavy.com <a href="https://www.wavy.com/news/politics/virginia-politics/is-time-up-for-youth-on-tiktok-gov-youngkin-seems-to-think-so/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Parents, per the law, will be required to give &#8220;verifiable&#8221; consent if they want their child&#8217;s time on such apps increased or decreased.
The Consumer Data Protection Act will take effect next year, on January 1, 2026.
Youngkin has long voiced his concerns about children&#8217;s exposure to social media. In November, for example, the governor <a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2024/november/name-1036768-en.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signed</a> an executive order addressing the &#8220;youth mental health crisis driven by the effects of unrestricted cell phone use and addictive social media platforms.&#8221;
“While social media and the internet have brought many positives to our society, there is a growing consensus that social media is having severe — severe and persistent — negative impacts on our kids,” the governor <a href="https://www.wavy.com/news/politics/virginia-politics/is-time-up-for-youth-on-tiktok-gov-youngkin-seems-to-think-so/?utm_source=chatgpt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> back in 2023.
“Children spend on average nearly five hours daily on social media; recent studies have suggested that children who spend more than a few hours per day on social media have double the risk of poor mental health,” Youngkin&#8217;s website said at the time. “Through budget proposals, legislation and executive action the youth mental health strategy will address critical components and harmful aspects of social media on our youth.”
Notably, Youngkin actually wanted the Consumer Data Protection Act to go further, restricting social media use daily to one hour for all those under 18 years old. The bill, though, landed at age 16.
The issues with social media have also been recognized by the federal government. In 2023, Biden-era U.S. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/surgeon-general" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surgeon General</a> Vivek Murthy issued an <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">advisory</a> warning that <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">social media</a> use among minors can severely damage <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/mental-health" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mental health</a>.
“The most common question parents ask me is, ‘is social media safe for my kids.’ The answer is that we don’t have enough evidence to say it’s safe, and in fact, there is growing evidence that social media use is associated with harm to young people’s mental health,” Murthy said.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-about-kids-use-of-social-media" target="_blank" rel="noopener">U.S. Surgeon General Issues Advisory About Kids’ Use Of Social Media</a>

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin

GOP Gov Signs Law That Would Set Daily Time Limit For Kids On Social Media

Big Tech

Glenn Youngkin

Social Media

Virginia

The Trump administration this week slashed $1 billion in so-called &#8220;mental health&#8221; grants for educational institutions, many of which were going to promote leftist ideology and train leftist activists.
The Education Department <a href="https://apnews.com/article/school-mental-health-grants-trump-biden-dei-00bec2d96371f023ac56fe3f32f3e92f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> Wednesday that it was making cuts to grants handed out by the Biden administration ostensibly for the purpose of &#8220;mental health&#8221; because of the focus of many of the recipients on racially-focused programs. In a notice to Congress, the administration said it was going to &#8220;re-envision and re-compete&#8221; the funds allocated for mental health at schools in a gun control bill signed by former President Joe Biden.
&#8220;These grants are intended to improve American students&#8217; mental health by funding additional mental health professionals in schools and on campuses,&#8221; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Communications Madison Biedermann <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-administration-discontinues-1-billion-school-mental-health/story?id=121360858" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;Instead, under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden Administration, grant recipients used the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and could hurt the very students the grants are supposed to help.&#8221;
The move was first reported on Tuesday by Christopher Rufo, who <a href="https://x.com/realchrisrufo/status/1917314079406055660" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X that there would be &#8220;no more slush fund for activists under the guise of mental health.&#8221;
In March, the conservative organization Defending Education <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-education-department-spent-100m-funding-university-leftist-activist-programs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put out a report</a> finding that the Department of Education had given at least $100,964,880 in grants to 25 universities to increase their social worker training programs ostensibly for the purpose of mental health. Defending Education found that many of these grants were going to programs steeped in leftist ideology.
This money was allocated through the Mental Health Service Professional Demonstration Grant Program and the School-Based Mental Health Services Grant Program.
For example, Portland State University was <a href="https://ktvz.com/news/government-politics/2023/04/11/dept-of-education-awards-1-6-million-to-help-osu-psu-train-school-based-mental-health-professionals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">awarded</a> $1,189,801 by the Department of Education to increase the number of social workers. DEI principles are built into the school’s Master of Social Work program, the stated <a href="https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn%3Aaaid%3Ascds%3AUS%3A42f35593-1dd0-3ca0-b163-1b9431eec989&amp;viewer%21megaVerb=group-discover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">goal</a> of which is to train social workers to dismantle “systems of oppression; build[] racial equity and social, political, and economic justice.”
&#8220;The grants were meant to support school counselors and mental health staff. In reality, they became a pipeline for training activist educators steeped in DEI, CRT, and gender ideology. Federal dollars went to universities pushing &#8216;anti-racist social-emotional learning&#8217; and racially preferential hiring,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/nickineily/status/1917947212341875076" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Defending Education President Nicki Neily on Thursday. &#8220;Parents want real support for children in crisis, not counselors or social workers trained to divide, shame, and re-educate. Good on the Trump administration for ending this. Now, let’s make sure the replacements actually serve students.&#8221;

Department Of Education Plans To Lay Off Half Of Its Staff

Trump Admin Deals Blow To Taxpayer-Funded Leftist Activist Training Program

Department of Education

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Education

Trump Administration

Country singer Luke Combs recently discussed a mental health condition he’s had since childhood.
The 35-year-old recording artist did an interview with “60 Minutes Australia” and talked about his experience with purely &#8220;obsessional obsessive-compulsive disorder,&#8221; which has the nickname “pure O.” Unlike typical OCD, pure O occurs when the compulsions a person experiences are mostly internal, whereas OCD usually involves physical rituals or repetitive behaviors. 
“It’s thoughts, essentially, that you don’t want to have,” Combs said during the interview, per <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/country-star-luke-combs-opens-living-wicked-ocd-condition-known-pure-o-rcna195646">NBC News</a>. “And then they cause you stress, and then you’re stressed out, and then the stress causes you to have more of the thoughts, and then you don’t understand why you’re having them, and you’re trying to get rid of them, but trying to get rid of them makes you have more of them.”
The singer said these thoughts are “wicked” as they can sometimes turn violent.
“I just have to accept that they’re happening and then just go, ‘Whatever, dude. It’s happening. It’s whatever,’” he said. “It’s weird, sucks, hate it, drives me crazy, but … the less that you worry about why you’re having the thoughts, eventually they go away.”
Combs says he’s lucky to have figured out a way through these moments while acknowledging how difficult it can be. 
“When it hits, man, it can be all-consuming,” the singer said. “If you have a flare-up of it &#8230; you could think about it 45 seconds of every minute for weeks.”
The Grammy Award nominee said he’s seeking to spread awareness about the condition and help others.
“I definitely want to spend some time at some point in my life doing some outreach to kids that deal with this,” he told “60 Minutes Australia.”
“Because it held me back so many times in my life, where you’re trying to accomplish something, you’re doing really great and then you have a flare-up and it just ruins your whole life for six months &#8230; and then you’re back to where you started.”
“The message is if there’s someone out there that’s struggling with it, it’s possible to continue to live your life, and be really successful, and have a great family, and achieve your dreams, while also dealing with things that you don’t want to be dealing with,” Combs said.

Luke Combs

Country Singer Luke Combs Discusses ‘All-Consuming’ Mental Condition He’s Had Since Childhood

Country Singer Luke Combs Discusses 'All-Consuming' Mental Condition He's Had Since Childhood

Country Music

Country singer

Entertainment

CNN anchor Jake Tapper is co-authoring a book with Axios correspondent Alex Thompson detailing the “cover-up” of former President Joe Biden&#8217;s “serious decline,” CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/26/media/joe-biden-book-jake-tapper-alex-thompson/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> on Wednesday.
The book, titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” pins the blame on Biden and his family for being &#8220;part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents,&#8221; according to the book&#8217;s publisher, Penguin Press. Tapper co-hosted Biden&#8217;s disastrous June 2024 debate against Donald Trump, which eventually led to Biden&#8217;s exit from the presidential race, while Thompson reported on the debate fallout and the White House&#8217;s attempts to keep Biden in the 2024 contest.
“What you will learn makes President Biden’s decision to run for reelection seem shockingly narcissistic, self-delusional, and reckless — a desperate bet that went bust — and part of a larger act of extended public deception that has few precedents,” Penguin said in a press release, adding that Biden, &#8220;his family, and his senior aides were so convinced that only he could beat Trump again, they lied to themselves, allies, and the public about his condition and limitations.”
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ORIGINAL SIN, now available for pre-order at <a href="https://t.co/a9TcEIjAnV">https://t.co/a9TcEIjAnV</a> from <a href="https://twitter.com/penguinpress?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Penguinpress</a>. Been working hard on this with <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexThomp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AlexThomp</a>, from interviews with more than 200 WH insiders, Dem leaders, and more. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OriginalSinBook?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OriginalSinBook</a> <a href="https://t.co/e7hd4bqNHM">pic.twitter.com/e7hd4bqNHM</a>
&mdash; Jake Tapper 🦅 (@jaketapper) <a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1894724349921202424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
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In the book, Tapper and Thompson examine what they call Biden&#8217;s &#8220;original sin&#8221; — his decision to run for a second term at 81 years old. &#8220;Original Sin&#8221; will be released on May 20.
The book announcement was blasted by conservatives on social media, who argued that Tapper and Thompson were part of the legacy media&#8217;s cover-up of Biden&#8217;s mental decline. Before Biden&#8217;s catastrophic debate performance against Trump, both Tapper and Thompson criticized conservatives for pointing out clear signs that the former president&#8217;s mental capabilities were going downhill.
During the 2020 campaign, Tapper came to Biden&#8217;s <a href="https://x.com/jaketapper/status/1318570778468777984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defense</a> multiple times when Republicans criticized him for struggling during his campaign speeches. In January 2020, Tapper <a href="https://x.com/jaketapper/status/1218211112195362818" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reposted</a> a clip of Lara Trump saying she felt &#8220;kind of sad for Biden&#8221; for struggling to &#8220;get the words out.&#8221; Tapper commented on Trump&#8217;s remarks on social media, writing, &#8220;Whatever you think of @JoeBiden and his politics, worth reading this remarkable piece about his stutter,&#8221; and linking to an Atlantic article that argued that voters should &#8220;be more understanding&#8221; of Biden&#8217;s gaffes because &#8220;he’s still fighting a stutter.&#8221;
In June 2023, Thompson wrote a <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/06/18/biden-god-save-the-queen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">piece</a> for Axios on &#8220;Biden&#8217;s weird words&#8221; and defended the former president&#8217;s &#8220;unique phrases&#8221; from Republican attacks.
&#8220;Biden’s quirky aphorisms are sometimes weaponized by Republicans to insinuate the 80-year-old president is in mental decline,&#8221; Thompson wrote. &#8220;But Biden has been using unique phrases for years — but even some of his aides aren&#8217;t exactly sure what he means by them.&#8221; Thompson added, &#8220;There are legitimate questions about Biden&#8217;s age and stamina as he runs for a second term — but his off-beat proverbs are just Biden being Biden.&#8221;

Jake Tapper, Who Ignored Signs Of Biden’s Decline, Releasing Book On The ‘Cover-Up’

aging

Axios

Jake Tapper

Media

I&#8217;ve written a good deal about the damage that the field of modern psychiatry has done to mankind, across a variety of contexts. Most of the harms — the invention of gender ideology, the mass overprescribing of psychotropic drugs, and so on — are relatively widely known. What&#8217;s less well-known, because not a lot of people talk about it, is the sinister influence of modern psychiatry on our criminal justice system. For all the criticism to be made of Soros D.A.&#8217;s and Democrats&#8217; refusal to prosecute criminals — all of it justified — the role of modern psychiatry in freeing violent offenders is often ignored. But it&#8217;s very much a crisis in this country, and it&#8217;s been one for some time.
It was all the way back in the early 1970s when a man named Charles Meach beat a 22-year-old grocery store clerk to death in Anchorage, Alaska. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity, and shipped off to a mental institution. But just seven years later, Meach was released. Psychiatrists claimed Meach had made a full recovery. He promised he wouldn&#8217;t murder anyone in the future, and that was good enough, apparently. After all, why would he lie? What had Charles Meach ever done to prove himself untrustworthy? I mean, aside from the whole beating-someone-to-death thing. So he was released on the honor system. He pinky promised not to murder ever again. But the promise was short-lived. Two years later, Meach purchased a revolver and murdered four teenagers at a campsite, just for the thrill of it.
Reforms were promised after that massacre, and you can see why. It was a pretty clear sign that mental health professionals should stop pretending that murderers can somehow be &#8220;cured&#8221; of their murderous tendencies. Murder is not, in fact, a symptom of an illness. It is a manifestation of human evil. And people who commit those kinds of evil acts should be locked in prison forever.
But psychiatrists were not dissuaded. Instead, our sainted mental health professionals, with the help of mostly Democrat-controlled state governments across the country, have continued to embed themselves into the criminal justice system. Their psychiatric facilities now function as safe houses for violent thugs like Jordan Neely, who didn&#8217;t go to prison even after he punched an elderly woman in the face on the subway and broke her nose. Instead, Neely was offered &#8220;intensive outpatient psychiatric treatment,&#8221; which would supposedly cure him of his addiction to terrorizing random people on the train. And we all know how that turned out.
Any rational person who looks at incidents like this will recognize immediately what&#8217;s going on. Left-wing prosecutors have found a kind of hack that enables them to release extremely dangerous criminals, even when their guilt is beyond any doubt. All the prosecutors have to do is find some hippy psychiatrist to sign off on a &#8220;treatment plan,&#8221; and then pretty much anything is possible. They could release some of the most dangerous and depraved criminals on the planet, who committed their crimes not too long ago, based solely on the pseudoscience of modern psychiatry — which is completely subjective, and often relies entirely on the promise of the criminal not to reoffend. There is no crime — and I really mean no crime — so heinous that the criminal cannot be released back into society if a psychiatrist claims that he’s been successfully “treated.”
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1542-the-woke-justice-system-just-let-an-axe-murdering-cannibal-walk-free-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
If you think I’m exaggerating, then please consider the case of Tyree Smith, which has to be one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice we&#8217;ve ever seen in American history. Tyree Smith confessed to the brutal murder of a 43-year-old homeless man in a vacant apartment in Connecticut back in 2011. Smith was apparently <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130820075136/https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/accused-cannibal-considered-eating-psychiatrist-4653241.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">distressed</a> about losing his job at Starbucks, before he began to hear voices in his head. 
Now, the details of his crime are so horrific that I’m sorry that I have to share them with you. But it’s important that you have the full story. So here it is. Smith used an axe to kill the man inside an abandoned home in Bridgeport. He then hacked up the man’s body, removed several of his organs — an eyeball and some of his brain — and then ate them at cemetery nearby. So this is an axe murdering graveyard cannibal we’re talking about. Something straight out of a horror film. The man&#8217;s body (or what was left of it) wasn&#8217;t found for nearly 40 days. At trial, Smith was found not guilty by reason of insanity. In 2013, a panel of judges committed Smith to a mental institution for 60 years.
But Smith will not spend anywhere near 60 years in a mental institution.
Instead, something called the &#8220;Psychiatric Security Review Board&#8221; in Connecticut has just granted Smith a &#8220;conditional release.&#8221; That means he&#8217;ll receive &#8220;day passes&#8221; to wander around the hospital grounds as he pleases. And very soon, he&#8217;ll be able to make &#8220;off-site&#8221; visits into the community.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="001 Bridgeport Killer Cannibal" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e5dnQA0zPPs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
If you had told me a few years ago that woke justice reform would soon lead to the release of an axe murderer cannibal, it would have seemed too outlandish even to me. Even if you have a black murderer and a white victim, as you do in this case — even given everything we&#8217;ve seen during the moral panic of the BLM era — it still seems unthinkable. And it only gets more unthinkable when you look into the specifics of Tyree Smith&#8217;s case and why he was released.
First of all, it’s perhaps worth nothing, this decision was made during a hearing in which Tyree Smith wasn&#8217;t even present. He teleconferenced in, and he didn&#8217;t appear on the video screens in the hearing room. Right away, that should be disqualifying. You will not find very many employers in this country that are willing to hire a job applicant after a phone call, without seeing the applicant in any way. Which means it is, at least in some ways, more difficult for a normal person to get a job at Walmart than it is for a homicidal cannibal to get released from an asylum.
So why is Connecticut releasing Tyree Smith? As the hearing went on, a psychiatrist testified that Smith has recovered. He is a reformed cannibal. His axe murdering days are behind him. And her evidence for this statement is that Smith has denied experiencing any hallucinations, or a desire to harm other people. He’s better now, and we know he’s better now, because he says he’s better now. I&#8217;m going to play that clip from the hearing, then at the end you&#8217;ll see a question from the prosecutor to the doctor. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="002 Hearing footage" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a7qPoXhXTYs?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
&nbsp;
As you just heard, evidence of Tyree Smith&#8217;s “recovery” is based on self-reported data. They “know” that he hasn’t had any hallucinations or cravings to consume human flesh because he told them: &#8220;He denied visual hallucinations or a desire to harm others or himself.&#8221; Well, okay then. What more do you need to know? Oh and by the way, if he stops taking his medications, he could totally become a cannibal again. But he pinky-promises that he&#8217;ll keep taking his medications, and stop murdering people.
Of course, at the same time, Smith also knows that his only chance of ever seeing the outside world again is to lie about all of this. So either he is an axe murderer cannibal who grew out of it like a child grows out of a bed-wetting phase, or he’s lying. There’s about a 99.9999 percent chance of the latter.
At the hearing, one of the victim&#8217;s family members pointed this out. She remarked, “How do we really know he’s not going to do this again? He had no remorse for killing Angel.” She also said that the whole family is terrified because it&#8217;s quite possible Tyree Smith will reoffend. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="003 family" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gHaMnGxwMvk?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
So the axe-murderer is apparently the life of the party at the insane asylum. He’s a joy to be around. Of course we can probably assume that the man he hacked to death and then consumed would disagree with this assessment. But he’s not here — because he’s dead. The point is that, as long as Tyree Smith isn’t axe-murdering, he’s really quite pleasant. But that&#8217;s small comfort to the family of his victim, who really wants an answer to a pretty basic question, which is: What assurances do we have that he won&#8217;t kill us, exactly?
In their report, the Connecticut psychiatry board includes this line, which is really an all-time caliber line. If you&#8217;re assembling a hall-of-fame of the most deranged statements that the medical profession has tried to pass off as legitimate, this would have to be very high on the list. This is directly from the Connecticut psychiatry board&#8217;s report. I’m <a href="https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/bridgeport-ct-tyree-smith-released-18394546.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not making this up</a>, I assure you: &#8220;He denied experiencing cravings but stated that if they were to arise, he would reach out to his hospital and community supports and providers.&#8221;
Yes, cravings. So just relax, everybody. There&#8217;s nothing to worry about. The Connecticut psychiatric board is releasing an axe murderer cannibal back into society, but they assure us that if he experiences any “cravings” for the taste of human flesh, he will immediately “reach out” for help. They’re going to release him but they’ll say on his way out the door: “Hey, make sure to reach out if you ever feel like eating someone’s brain!” And that should do it. What a relief. In the last decade or so that he&#8217;s been locked away, Tyree Smith has become totally and completely normal. There&#8217;s zero likelihood that Tyree Smith will, say, order Uber Eats and assume that the delivery driver is the meal.
Of course, all of this discussion about whether Tyree Smith is “reformed” actually misses the point anyway. Even in the fantasyland scenario where an axe murderer could be transformed into a functional, tax-paying member of society, he still shouldn’t be released. He should be in prison as a matter of basic justice. If he&#8217;s truly cured of his schizophrenia and murderous tendencies, then he should be shipped to a maximum-security prison. The idea that he belongs in civilized society, after brutally murdering a man and then eating him, is only appealing if you&#8217;re the kind of person who — for one reason or another — sympathizes more with killers than the victims who are killed. And that&#8217;s the kind of attitude that defines a lot of psychiatrists.
For example, I looked up one of the Yale psychiatrists who testified for the defense in Smith&#8217;s original trial, named Reena Kapoor (pronouns she/her/hers). She&#8217;s written a lot of articles about her time working with murderers who were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Here&#8217;s a direct <a href="https://jaapl.org/content/36/4/563.long" target="_blank" rel="noopener">quote</a> from one of those articles. It&#8217;s about how an inmate — a murderer — asked to take a walk with her while in prison. And apparently it left her very hot and bothered:
<blockquote>J.M. and I never did take a walk together. In fact, neither of us ever mentioned the idea again. &#8230; As far as I know, J.M. does not speak of me longingly or wax nostalgic about our year of psychotherapy. .. As for me, I have had some time to reflect on things, and I am plagued by one last question about J.M.&#8217;s request to take a walk with me. Why did he ask to take a walk in particular? Why not ask to see a movie or have lunch together?</blockquote>
It reads like an early 2000s MySpace post or a LiveJournal blog from a teenage girl who&#8217;s infatuated with serial killers. But it&#8217;s not. It&#8217;s an excerpt from an article published in the &#8220;Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.&#8221; This is how a lot of &#8220;doctors&#8221; in the field of psychiatry conduct themselves. It&#8217;s the kind of thing they fantasize about. And in Tyree Smith&#8217;s case, they have taken their ideology to its logical conclusion. Of course, they don&#8217;t want Smith to live anywhere near their neighborhoods. They just want you to have to deal with him.
This is bleeding heart liberalism in its final, horrifically deranged and monstrous, and also literal, form. Although, as I’ve often pointed out, this isn’t actually due to an overabundance of compassion or sensitivity. It’s exactly the opposite. These decisions are fueled by a kind of psychotic indifference to the immense human suffering that will inevitably come as a result. The people who made this decision know that there&#8217;s a high likelihood that this man will butcher another person, and they just don’t care. They are just as psychotic as he is. In Russia, they <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/11/24/news/cannibal-serial-killer-denis-gorin-pardoned-by-putin-for-fighting-in-ukraine/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">send</a> their cannibals to fight in war, to inflict horrors on the enemies of the state. That happened several times in just the past few years, during the war in Ukraine. But in the United States, psychiatrists want cannibals to inflict those horrors on Americans.
When modern psychiatry was just getting started in 19th century Britain, something called the &#8220;Alleged Lunatics&#8217; Friend Society&#8221; formed. They saw psychiatrists as completely illegitimate — as totalitarians who just wanted to imprison people without due process. And there was indeed a long period of time where psychiatry was used to imprison people who were not dangerous and had done nothing wrong. We now have the exact opposite problem. Psychiatry has done a 180 flip. Deranged lunatics are being freed as a means of circumventing the criminal justice system. The common thread here — the the thing that ties together these two extremes — is that in both cases psychiatry is a cover to inflict horrors beyond comprehension onto the public.
The reality — and this really shouldn’t need to be said — is that someone who kills another human and eats his brain will never be fit to live freely in society ever again. This should not be a controversial statement. In fact, it should be the least controversial statement ever uttered. But in psychiatry, it is controversial, which is why people living in Connecticut are worried that they&#8217;re back on the menu tonight. The truth is that the people who freed the axe murderer cannibal are just as demented as the axe murderer cannibal himself. They haven’t consumed human flesh at a graveyard — as far as I know, anyway — but they are equally deranged. And because they have a lot more power, and are legitimized under the veil of “science,” they are quite a bit more dangerous.

MixCollage-24-Feb-2025-02-40-PM-880

The Woke Justice System Just Let An Axe Murdering Cannibal Walk Free

Connecticut

Courts

Criminal Justice

Murder

Woke Culture

Author J.K. Rowling laid out the mental health risks associated with the rhetoric coming from proponents of radical gender ideology, arguing that it was more likely to contribute to an increase in mental health problems than to help address them.
Rowling began by sharing an example of the rhetoric to which she was referring: &#8220;Are you complaining about people who feel they&#8217;d rather die than live bound by the expectations of masculinity and presenting as a barbarian caveman? Would YOU like to be seen as a man? Would YOU like to let go of your femininity? No? It might make you feel like dying, yes?&#8221;
The &#8220;Harry Potter&#8221; author cut straight to the heart of the matter, saying that such rhetoric was guaranteed to compound the problems of those suffering from gender dysphoria by fostering an unhealthy dependence on outside affirmation.
&#8220;An infallible recipe for poor mental health and lifelong unhappiness is believing that unless the entire world validates your self-perception, it hates you,&#8221; Rowling <a href="https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1836392398793937032">began</a>. &#8220;If you move through life telling yourself that unless you can force other people to play along you&#8217;ll &#8216;be &#8216;erased,&#8217; if the slightest hint that another person doesn&#8217;t see you the way you&#8217;ve labelled yourself feels like an attack on your very existence, your life will be spent in a state of miserable insecurity and fragility.&#8221;
&#8220;Would I like to &#8216;let go&#8217; of my femininity? Willingly; femininity is the set of stereotypes imposed on women by men. Would it &#8216;make me feel like dying&#8217;? Of course it wouldn&#8217;t,&#8221; Rowling continued.
She concluded by pointing out how such statements fed the oft-repeated lie that trans-identifying young people were more likely to take their own lives if their identity was not accommodated — up to and including risky and irreversible hormones and medical procedures — by those around them.
&#8220;Vulnerable young people are being harmed by your kind of hyperbolic language, which promotes the lie about the inevitability of suicide among the gender-questioning unless they&#8217;re given often irreversible medical interventions,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Rhetoric like this flies in the face of everything we know about mitigating suicide risk among those with mental health issues and it&#8217;s particularly gruesome when done by self-congratulatory people on Twitter whose banner picture is &#8216;be kind.'&#8221;

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FINDING THE WAY

JK Rowling Highlights Danger Of Trans Rhetoric: ‘An Infallible Recipe For Poor Mental Health’

JK Rowling Highlights Danger Of Trans Rhetoric: 'An Infallible Recipe For Poor Mental Health'

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