Free Republic

Max Azzarello is the name given by the man who set himself on fire outside the Trump trial in New York after leaving behind a “rambling” manifesto and social media accounts in which he sang about starting a “revolution.” “Start a “f****** revolution,” he sang over and over again on Instagram in January. “You’ve got nothing to lose.” Another Instagram post showed him posing as an Uncle Sam-like figure, pointing at the camera. It read, “I want you to tear down a haunted carnival.” Heavy has located the manifesto, on which he writes, “My name is Max Azzarello, and I...

The Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) recently issued its 2023 Annual Report. It presents an abundance of dire information about the therapy-addicted young people now trying to make their way through the wasteland of undergraduate education. I have read it so you don’t have to. But before I turn to its diagnostic particulars, let me indulge with the broader picture that appears nowhere in CCMH’s report. Virtually everyone, including CCMH, agrees that American college students are suffering an epidemic of mental illness. But why? Among the recent books on the topic is The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring...

It’s been a red-letter week for destroying the gender narrative. And the trans juggernaut just hit another speed bump.Transitioning children not only harms them physically and psychologically, but it also causes medical conflicts. (Sangiao Photography/Shutterstock)Fresh off the heels of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announcing that it would not allow transgender-identified men to compete in women’s athletic events in any of its association’s 239 small private schools, a landmark study was released on Wednesday that defies the hysterical warning that if gender dysphoric adolescents don’t receive “gender-affirming care,” they will kill themselves.The new study from British pediatrician Dr. Hilary...

Attempted suicide rates among people who identified as transgender more than doubled after receiving a vaginoplasty, according to a peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of Urology.The study analyzed the rates of psychiatric emergencies before and after gender-altering surgery among 869 males who underwent vaginoplasty and 357 females who underwent phalloplasty in California from 2012 to 2018.Researchers found the rates of psychiatric emergencies were high both before and after gender-altering surgery, with similar overall rates in both groups. However, suicide attempts were markedly higher in those who received vaginoplasties.“In fact, our observed rate of suicide attempts in the phalloplasty group...

Big Apple lawmakers may need their heads examined. Newly arrived migrants to the five boroughs may soon be able to visit with taxpayer-funded therapists to get in touch with their feelings, should a new City Council proposal become law. The bill would station mental health coordinators at all 218 city migrant shelters and run taxpayers — on the low end — at least $15 million a year, according to a Post analysis.

The concept of mental health is a hypochondriac’s, narcissist’s, shirker’s and social security fraud’s charter: for who can prove that someone does not so feel depressed, anxious or grief-stricken that he is unable to work? Who can distinguish between “can’t,” “won’t” and “would rather not”? Unfortunately, mental health has come to mean any deviance from a state of perfect equanimity and satisfaction Fragile mental health, and especially mental health issues, are said to be preventing large numbers of young people from working, with British people in their early twenties now more likely to be out of work than people in...

A recent study revealed that 42 percent of individuals belonging to Generation Z, born between 1990 and 2010, have been diagnosed with a mental health condition. The prevalent diagnoses include anxiety, depression, ADHD, and PTSD. Furthermore, twenty percent of them have sought therapy, and sixty percent are currently taking medication.

Mayor Eric Adams on Friday blamed the shocking rush-hour shooting onboard a Brooklyn subway car on an agitator suffering from “severe mental health” issues, as he pushed for legislation that would allow police to institutionalize mentally unstable people. Adams claimed a 36-year-old aggressor was not “in the proper frame of mind” when he was filmed brawling with another man and was shot by his own gun onboard an A train as it pulled into the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station Thursday night. “When I looked at this tape and broke it down piece by piece and frame by frame, it is clear...

When a person has or maintains a false belief or judgment about overt and objective external reality, and holds such views in defiance despite unquestionable authentication to the contrary, clinicians and therapists appropriately describe this as delusion and reflective of some form of mental disorder. Delusions are beliefs that are plainly untrue and that indicate an abnormality in the affected person’s content of thought. More problematic is these individuals are positively assured that the delusion is real.

Why is there so much self-promotion in our society, self-inflating behavior at the expense of others? Data suggests “narcissism,” the outsized need for admiration, blind conceit, and lack of empathy is rising. Why? With what effect on society? These questions – why and with what effect on society– are important for understanding the world in which we live and assessing the drift of society. Unpacking the complicated drift of society toward unrepentant, unapologetic, often unaware self-aggrandizement is tough, but several facts pop off the page. First, social media – self-tailored, instant, one-to-many communications – have grabbed society faster than any...

Interesting analysis this morning from Axios in a “Deep Dive: Inside the Mind of Gen Z.” The piece pulls together a bunch of data points and quotes from experts to provide a snapshot of a generation that, at least in my humble opinion, is in deep trouble.Here’s the key data from the Axios analysis: “By the numbers: Gen Z (defined as people roughly ages 12 to 27) reports the poorest mental health of any generation, according to a Gallup and Walton Family Foundation report.“Just 44% of Gen Zers say they feel prepared for the future. “The big picture: They dodged...

The American College of Pediatricians has released a new position paper outlining findings based on a review of dozens of studies to claim that providing gender transition procedures to minors with gender dysphoria does not lead to an improvement in mental health.The ACP, which describes itself as a 600-member “national organization of pediatricians and other healthcare professionals dedicated to the health and well-being of children,” released the report Monday titled “Mental Health in Adolescents with Incongruence of Gender Identity and Biological Sex.” The group has long expressed skepticism about surgical and hormonal interventions for children who say they identify as...

A whopping 89 percent of Americans have concerns, to varying degrees, that President Joe Biden lacks the physical and mental health for a second term, according to an NBC News poll. The poll published Tuesday — ahead of Biden’s press conference Thursday where he was grilled about his age and mental acuity — found that 62 percent of registered voters nationally have “major concerns” that he does not have “the necessary mental and physical health to be president for a second term.” Another 14 percent have “moderate” worries, while 13 percent expressed “minor concerns.” Conversely just over one in ten...

Every child in Illinois government schools will be subjected to intrusive “mental health” screenings and data-gathering schemes starting this fall under a controversial new state law, opening the door for further mass-medicalization and surveillance of children as well as huge profits for politicians’ Big Pharma campaign donors. Critics are sounding the alarm. The measure, adopted under the state’s Wellness Checks in Schools Program Act, is aimed at dealing with what policymakers describe as an explosion of “mental health” problems among children. The trends have been getting worse for years. But the government responses to COVID such as school shutdowns and...

A member of the US Army with a popular fitness and fashion account on Instagram has died by suicide, devastated friends shared on Saturday. Staff Sgt. Michelle Young, 34, took her own life, leaving behind her 12-year-old daughter, whom friends described as “her whole world” in a heart-wrenching post on GoFundMe. “Michelle was a beautiful soul, an amazing friend, a single mother, a soldier, and is proof you never know what someone is going through or what demons they may be fighting,” friend Sarah Maine wrote on the page. “We will never fill the gaps in our hearts and will...

Social media grenade-launcher Matt Walsh recently posted the following on his FaceBook page: "Many people claim to know for a fact that the practice of psychotherapy has been deeply helpful to humanity. To those people, I ask: If therapy is generally so helpful, and more people than ever are doing it, then why are people less able to deal with hardship and cope with suffering than ever before? Is it because our lives are really so much more difficult?" It's a fair question. It's certainly hard to make the case that our lives are so much more difficult than, say,...

What do you think of the Governor of Colorado’s holiday video? 😖

California scientists race to concoct compounds that could rewire the brain more safely Since their creation decades ago, mind-altering drugs have remained as unchanged as bellbottoms, tie-dye and patchouli oil. Now — full of promise and peril — psychedelics are undergoing a makeover. Chemical neuroscientists, many based in Northern California, are redesigning the structures of psilocybin, ketamine, MDMA and other powerful drugs to concoct compounds that they hope will offer mental health benefits with fewer risks. With advanced tech tools and a deepened understanding of brain chemistry, scientists say the new drugs might succeed where conventional therapies have failed,...

Browsing through social media but never liking or commenting on posts may be a sign of a mental health condition, a new study has revealed. Researchers at the Central China Normal University found that people who use platforms 'passively' are more likely suffer from social anxiety compared to people who use it actively - uploading posts and sharing life updates. The team surveyed more than 500 college students on their mental health and social media use, finding that 'voyeurs' were more afraid of unfamiliar situations in their physical lives. On the other hand, those who used social media actively found...

Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that there was a global mental health crisis because young people look at we are not yet solving the climate crisis. Anchor Jake Tapper said, “It does look like the 2024 election will come down to President Biden versus former President Trump, and I’m wondering what you think the world would look like under President Trump being re-elected, which is a possibility, not only when it comes to the climate but also when it comes to democracy.”