The Dastardly Social Ills of Social Media

by Andy Caldwell

Not long ago, if an adolescent girl was diagnosed as depressed, suicidal, autistic, or suffering from an eating disorder, a psychologist would try to help her understand and cope with her life experiences that served to damage her self-image. Today, that same young girl would be induced to self-diagnose, as the cure for all that ails her, a new identity altogether via gender transition. She could go to a Planned Parenthood clinic which would spend some 30 minutes with her before prescribing puberty blockers and hormone treatments with nary a concern for her underlying emotional and mental state. Even worse are the doctors who would subsequently perform life-altering surgeries without batting an eye at the patient’s underlying problems.

Where are the parents?

They are typically in one of two places. They support the treatments and surgeries because they have been told (read: lied to) that supporting their child’s “transition” will save their kid from committing suicide. Or, they have drunk the Kool-Aid, and believe their child has the right to self-determination (whatever makes them happy) despite all the unresolved underlying conditions. In no other area of medical or psychological treatment protocols, do we let children make such life-changing decisions.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Europe is undergoing a sea change having to do with gender dysphoria because a renowned doctor did an exhaustive study (commissioned by the National Health Service of England), some 400 pages long, of over 100 studies on hormone treatments and puberty blockers and blew the proponents of this medical malpractice to kingdom come. Dr. Hillary Cass chairs the Independent Review of Gender Identity Services, is Past President of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, past Chair of the British Academy of Childhood Disability, and a recipient of the Order of the British Empire for her services and accomplishments. In a word, she found the so-called studies on puberty blockers and hormone treatments “weak,” in fact, “remarkably weak.”

While much of Europe is considering cancelling gender surgeries for youth, please note, there is virtually no need to cancel them for full-fledged adults. That’s because 90% of youth who were interested in gender transition grow out of it once they grow through puberty. That is, puberty is a big part of this problem. Nonetheless, our state legislature is going in the opposite direction. One bill will forbid schools from informing parents that their kids are suffering from the confusion in the first place. Another bill would force licensing boards to expedite granting licenses to practitioners who want to provide gender affirming care.

Why the rush job?

Have you ever stopped to ask why gender transitioning has suddenly become all the rage? Believe it or not, there is plenty of research, along with a proposed warning by the U.S. Surgeon General, that indicates these kids have literally “caught” a mental illness, the roots of which are sociogenic. That is, gender dysphoria (dysphoria can literally be defined as a reaction to grief) is one of several social media contagions.  

As James Hirsen, who has a master’s degree in media psychology, explains, social media has “pathologized the customary mental, emotional, and behavioral state of each human being.” Social media algorithms, which virtually control what people see on social media, serve to bombard and bury these kids in an echo chamber that reinforces their self-diagnosed, self-imposed, distorted reality about themselves, all of which constitutes a modern-day version of brainwashing and grooming. Chat groups, comprised of similarly hurting and lonely kids, serve to feed on the collective confusion. “Therapists” then validate the confusion and dissatisfaction the teenager has with their body, while ignoring all the underlying conditions which will certainly not go away with pills, injections, or surgery.

Our broken society and culture are sending our kids down a very dark rabbit hole.

Who will save them?

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