: Survey reveals mass mental illness in Gen Z, with 57% of
: young people now taking medication just to cope

Once upon a time it was, "Boys will be boys!" Then gradually it became, "That boy's rowdiness disrupts the order of my classroom; he needs to be fixed, somehow, for the 'greater good'."

Boys became the target group for diagnoses of ADD and ADHD; having a prescription for Ritalin meant you were a normal part of a particular group in school. This, despite the finding of Dr. Broda Barnes in the 1960s that symptoms of what was at the time called hyperactivity went away when thyroid levels were brought to normal via supplementation with Armour thyroid.

Hyperactivity in boys with low thyroid was/is apparently a counterbalancing effort to address the lethargy, fatigue, and even sleepiness of hypothyroid. Ritalin - a methamphetamine-like stimulant drug - works by overcoming that lethargy and fatigue, thus addressing the reason for the hyperactivity but without doing anything to address the low thyroid issue.

Meanwhile, girls might seek meds to help them lose weight - while any actual overweight might be a symptom of hypothyroid. Depression might begin with The Pill, which by design introduces an artificial hormonal imbalance that likely affects B vitamins, etc.

So, how much of the above is what you and I would consider bona fide 'mental illness'? :)

--hobie