I used to think that the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) was a responsible medical journal, but for me that opinion changed as JAMA became progressively more leftward leaning.
Recently JAMA published a new study that shows a rise in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among American college students. PTSD rates increased by 4.1 percentage points, jumping from 3.4 percent in 2017-2018 to 7.5 percent in 2021-2022.
Over the five-year period from 2017 to 2022, the researchers also observed an increase in the prevalence of acute stress disorder (ASD) among college students. ASD prevalence rose by 0.5 percentage points, growing from 0.2 percent to 0.7 percent over the same timeframe.
The team examined student populations from a diverse array of 332 higher education institutions across the U.S., encompassing a broad geographic range and various institutional types. Their extensive survey captured data from nearly 400,000 college students, with females comprising a slight majority at 57.7 percent.
While I have no reason to doubt these increases in PTSD or ASD, I do doubt the supposed cause for these increases. Researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who conducted the study, suggest the stark increase likely stems from a combination of events, including campus shootings, nationwide racial tensions, and the loss of loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAMA apparently bought this claptrap and instead ignored the obvious.
First off, campus shootings are few and far-between. Nationwide racial tensions exist only in the minds of Democrats. Loss of loved from from Covid were not limited to the families of college students.
How could it be that a “reputable” medical journal and its “researchers” missed the obvious answers as to why this has occurred?
First: The lockdowns of young healthy college students during Covid to supposedly save them from a disease which basically had a negligible effect on their age group should be blatantly obvious.
Second: Because of the misguided concept that everybody should go to college, many students in college just cannot handle the unwarranted pressure on them. Additionally, a lot needed loans in order to pay for the college studies that they are not equipped to handle. This only adds to their stress especially if they do not finish with a degree, or if their attained degrees are not marketable.
Third: Young people today are being constantly overwhelmed because of “climate change.” Once one buys into this concept, depression (PTSD) and anxiety (ASD) are totally explainable, and college students are very susceptible to the persuasions of their left-leaning professors.
The fact that JAMA published this drivel only reenforces my opinion that it is no longer a responsible medical journal. JAMA is not what it used to be.
8/10/24