The Committee for Better Mental Health (CBMH) is a group founded in the last eras of the First Age. Fully backed by the billionaire Felicity McCourtney, herself a self-proclaimed bipolar. She blamed her bipolar mental identity on society’s barriers as a youth and a young adult. The group sought changes to the discrimination laws to make mental health a self-determined identity issue.
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CBMH was successful in nations like the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Colombia, Canada, Spain, New Zealand, and Portugal. They followed this up with limited success in the United States. The states of Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Colorado, New York, and Maryland picked up mental health identity protections. California attempted a citizens’ ballot proposition, but it failed by an overwhelming majority because of a successful social media campaign mounted by the political advocacy arm of the APA. CBMH made multiple attempts to codify mental health identity in the civil rights acts at the US federal level, but all failed because of the APA’s lobbying effort.

The limited success spurred the group to press harder on their political agenda. The activities of the CBMH sparked political backlash across Europe and the US, with protests from both sides. The protests became violent, requiring police or national armed forces to deal with it.

The opposition accused CBMH of being nothing more than a Marxist front organization and a Nazi Übermensch theory based on its origin with Hans Asperger, who had ties with the Nazis. While CBMH accused the opposition to be in bed with big pharma and corporate elites.

An increased number of “hate crimes” was seen in those locations that had adopted mental health identity laws, which included school mass bullying. This resulted in some young adults and late teens committing suicide at higher rates in these locations. Various members of the APA were quick to point out that this was the opposite desired effect, and the direct result of self-diagnosis. The CBMH countered that this was the result of non-acceptance by some hateful individuals.

Meanwhile, in the locations where CBMH was successful in changing the laws, legislators dismantled government psychological supports provided to children and adults. The reasoning was that these were no longer needed as there was now no actual psychological science guiding the diagnosis and treatment. If people who claimed to have a disorder wanted treatment, that was now a private issue between them and a doctor. It was no longer a concern of public health.

Children were seen under these laws as having the same level of protections as adults and would be assigned government advocates to ensure parents would not force unnecessary treatments.

In the US, the state courts were mixed on the application of the discrimination by mental health identity, including how it was being applied within the context of criminal law. At the heart of the legal problem was the notion of self-determination of one’s mental health status. Some judges were accepting, while more conservative judges were not. At the Federal level, the courts didn’t entertain these protections with the minor exception of the Southern District of New York. The SCOTUS never picked up any of these cases.

​The biggest opposition to CBMH came from a well-funded American group of neurologists in the field of neuroplasticity. They published scientific paper after scientific paper showing and countering “mental health identity” based on the natural adaptive nature of the human brain. And thus, provided the underlying mechanics for the possibility of treatment to recondition the brain into other behavior patterns. These papers became fodder for conservative talking points. CBMH struggled to find medical researchers willing to publish counter papers and stuck to the social sciences making political and moral arguments instead.

Then Sawa Kaneko and Ei Yoshimi, two Japanese molecular geneticists, discovered that autism spectrum disorder was a combination of micro-deletions across the human genome resulting in a differential neural development. The variations in phenotypes between cases were results from the amount of the deleted genetic information. This further explained the links between such syndromes as Angelman for also showing ASD. Scientists found poor neuroplasticity to be the culprits for mental comorbidities, such as anxiety and ADHD. Later, additional research would find that other common mental disorders such as bipolar and schizophrenia were also related to genetic micro-deletions.

The CBMH used this genetic discovery to show mental health identity as being a form of evolutionary adaptation. In doing so, questions arose about the concept of self-determination of one’s mental health identity and if genetic testing should be the determining factor.

By this point in history, the whole notion of mental health identity hit a social brick wall when legislatures allowed human cloned reproduction using advance CRISPR technology to strip away many genetic based disorders. With advent of these technologies and advance A.I. systems, medical psychology was transformed, offering the “cure” for all known disorders without lifelong use of drug therapy.

CBMH tried to fight for the right to be born naturally, but it was too late. Society had bought into these new wonders. The political winds had changed, and younger politicians backed by these new technologies stripped away the old mental health identity laws.

Other Mental Health Postings & Stories
Mental Illness During Rosella’s Time
Dawn Mason’s Extreme Hatred Bias

Writer’s Comments

On May 13th, 2021, Alexander Petrovnia wrote a Medium article entitled, “Cis People — Stop Trying To Understand Transness.” As an author, I agree with Alexander Petrovnia that I do not know what it’s like to be a trans person, because I’m not one. I wrote a piece about Xaku in the online game, Warframe, where the developers were citing it was a trans character representation. I couldn’t see it. All I saw from my perspective was a Frankenstein like creature (I’m NOT saying trans people are Frankensteins). But someone, who was trans, tweeted me telling me how they related to a such a jumbled mess of parts. I can understand that on an intellectual level. But like all things, if you don’t suffer from some disorder, or are not part of some community, you will never understand as a fellow human. You can only feel solidarity with them. But this doesn’t mean on an intellectual level, those who are not part of a specific disorder or community should cease all understanding. To do so would cut people off from knowledge and would also not allow solidarity to take place. This would have an opposite effect socially and cause nothing but more than panic and fear. It is under this reasoning, as a writer I continue to research, think about, and look at the directions of society to see where things like transgenderism will go. This is the nature of science fiction.

Studies and Surveys

I’ve mentioned multiple times in this blog human sexuality and gender issues. I don’t prescribe to an absolute view of the current norms of society but see these aspects evolving. This is especially true as we deploy certain technologies, such as advance CRISPR systems to genetically remove any gender dysmorphia caused by our genes. I realize many people don’t want to hear that idea, but I foresee this as a possibility. I also realize that media tends to portray certain sexualities either in a positive or negative light depending upon the circumstances of media ownership, media audience, and/or hidden political agendas.

Social media communities can impact personal adoption, and reinforcement of ideas. This effect is well documented for Twitter and the echo chambers it tends to create. In a 2012 article published in the Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice it highlighted the importance of gaining trust as it relates to different genders in order to build communities for marketing.

Such online communities can impact the self-identifying population numbers. A 2017 meta-regression study found that U.S. population of transgender individuals is 390 adults per 100,000, or about 1 million adults nationally (0.4% of 2017 18+ population). While, various other studies have shown ranges from “1.2 to 6.8 percent of the adult population identifying as LGBT.” This only highlights the fluid nature of self-identification.

Meanwhile, another American national survey looked at the transgender issue from visual and self-identifying. Again, the results show how diverse the meaning of the word “transgender” is as it relates to physical appearance being congruent with broad social norms, and Americans’ willingness to accept someone’s word that they are what they say they are (as in they have no ulterior motive to lie to me about their gender identification).

Fluidity of Language

One issue is with the fluid nature of language. The term “cis” used in Alexander Petrovnia’s article (31 times mind you) has only been around since 2011 and refers to those “whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth.” Its original Latin root is not what the word is being used for. The word boils down to a descriptive term used by the trans-community as a way to refer to everyone else but them. It’s more of choice of Latin roots since trans, cis and ultra are part of the same family. Although I couldn’t imagine the trans-community wanting to call cis people ultra. Of course, I could be wrong about that as well. Who knows maybe calling some cis people ultra-lesbian or ultra-heterosexual would catch on?

Regardless of if ultra becomes used in the English language for gender is irrelevant, there are other fundamental linguistic issues with the phrase, “gender identity.” Here again, there’s nothing that says in this language that sex assignment surgery is needed if the person is not suffering from gender dysmorphia. Making “gender identity” a fluid choice. In Rosella’s future, there’s nothing that stops some from making such claims and still dressing and behaving like their assigned sex with only minor exceptions, like the use of a restroom. Sure, a few people are shocked and annoyed, but the majority don’t care. Of course, same sex restrooms have also become more common place by Rosella’s time.

An example of a new lexicon is in a yet unpublished USRM-ISB Installment, where Rosella Tolfree encounters Morgan, a spirit vampire known as a “Son of the Angel of Lust” who was a “Caeneist” as a human. The term Caeneist refers to the Greek legend of Caeneus, who was a woman abducted and raped by Poseidon. She then asks to be turned into a man so as not to be raped again. In the late eras of the First Age of Humanity, full anatomical transformation of a person from one sex to another becomes possible thanks to 3-D printed organs and genetic manipulation to avoid rejection. This allowed people like Morgan suffering from gender dysmorphia to embody the fullness of a transformation. Such surgical transformations are not possible today. Some today, for reasons they only understand, don’t undergo the genital surgery. Which has sparked social controversies today. This gets partially resolved with the newer technologies, despite some still not desiring a full transformation (as noted above). Thus, by some viewpoints, creating a pseudohermaphrodite.

Enter Phoebe Matthews

Phoebe Matthews was a gender psychotechnologist of the early 2nd Age of Humanity. She coined the term “gendernormative” to refer to those people whose scans and gender psychological profiles fit attraction, and sexual behaviors for mating with people of the opposite sexual characteristics and compatible organs. She based these on the gender understandings of the time surrounding the following five principles: Sexual Attraction, Sexual Behavioral Acts, Sexual Self-Identity, Anatomical Realties, and Genetic Realties. Taken together, the five areas would define where someone was on the Kazuko Scale. A gender psychotechnologist measurement developed by Kanbayashi Kazuko in Japan some years before Phoebe Matthews. The original scale made no attempt to define a normative point but created intersectional groupings. It would be Phoebe Matthews with her published paper that would assign one of the intersectional groupings as normative for humans.

Her assignment came from a specific intersectional grouping, that despite social trends away from the labeling of people’s sexual activities and desires, still showed up for most her test subjects. All this even with the heavy global female average demography, lowering the male availability and historical research showing women were more “bisexual than men.” Later, her peers repeated the original study in multiple cultural locations and found similar findings. Scientists from other disciplines chimed in on the research noting that if this wasn’t true then the species would have died off, and that Phoebe Matthews’ research is confirming a fact of human biology. This despite our large brain allowing for a diverse human sexual experience.

Other Blog Posts Dealing with Sexuality

Human Sexuality, Sex, and Genderism in Rosella’s Dystopian World
Important Legal Changes in the Dystopian U.S. of Rosella’s World- Part 2
Dr. April French-Wolfe's Res-Pangenderism theory
From Artificial Wombs to Human Clones
 

On July 5th, 1852, the former slave Frederick Douglass gave a speech entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” It highlighted all the positive aspects expressed by the founders in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But contrasted it with the reality of slave life at the time. It showed the idealistic flaws between words and actions in a democracy. While human slavery has been long gone from America, one cannot doubt the transition is not done. This “transition” reaches a fevered pitch in the eras right before the Second Age of Humanity in Rosella’s World.

This is when you see the U.S.’s Fourth of July ceasing to be a national celebration of unity, and one that devolves into scenes of chaos. There are no more backyard barbeques. No more houses flying American flags. No patriotic parades or orchestras playing John Philip Sousa. There is no more American solidarity for being American, or politicians making speeches.

Instead, you have illegal gatherings of protestors calling for substantive changes in the U.S. Constitution from how citizenship is done to the promotion of what today we call affirmative action. Then to counter these groups you have organizers from a wide array of “patriot groups” picking fights with them in the streets. Nowhere to be seen are the police. The rioters set afire property and loot businesses. People are injured or killed. The Fourth of July became the one day in the year when Americans riot for political causes. The day became known on the developing Social Media Net as Protest Day.

Later by Rosella Tolfree’s time, the Fourth of July is nothing more than another Federal holiday for her. Gone is all the protesting in the streets, except the occasional small group of fundamental radicals being arrested. It's a day off from work when the electronic banking system shuts down for maintenance. Or a good day to buy something online if there’s a sale. No American jurisdiction celebrates the Fourth with parades or fireworks. You only know it’s the Fourth in Washington, D.C. because of the U.S. flag ordainments on the Federal buildings. The U.S. President doesn’t even issue a statement about the day. America has gone through so much that no one has the ambition or will to celebrate American patriotism (except groups considered to be domestic threats). Such ideals are from an age long gone. Only obscure college professors care about the ancient history of the founders.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, human society embarked on efforts to deal with potential zoonotic viral sources. Out of panic, a few governments resorted to burning whole forests to wipe out potential zoonotic sources. This didn’t change the equation of how the viruses worked, and it created new niches. Niches that would cause economic disruptions in human society.

From Mice to Rabbits to Humans

One such niche was the migration of mice from a burn near the port city of Matadi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. From there they ended up in France via cargo containers. The mice were infected with a weakened strain of SDAV. It did nothing to the mice, but once it got to Europe, it infected meat producing cuniculture farms near the Port of Marseille. The dead rabbits were tested, and they found the meat to be safe for human consumption. During the following month after the mean went to market, a strange seasonal allergy surfaced around the region of Marseille. Its symptoms were like most seasonal allergies, with runny eyes and nose, with an occasional sneezing and cough. Except traditional antihistamines were not working. It wasn’t until this “seasonal allergy” began to spread to other parts of France, and both infants and elderly were dying from it did medical experts realize they were dealing with a new epidemic.

It wasn’t long before the scientists had identified the virus as a mutated version of Sialodacryoadenitis virus (SDAV), a Murine coronavirus (M-CoV). The new disease was given the designation of H-SDAV, and they developed a new mRNA vaccine to combat it. This new mRNA included coding for the M, N, and S proteins allowing for a maximum human immune response. The problem was initial dose testing showed that having all three proteins caused recipients to experience a severe adverse response. It was determined the most effective regiment was to spread four shots over a six-month period.

By the time vaccine production was ramping up, the virus had already spread throughout Europe and had made it to the United States. Governments were in acting various infection spread controls such as regional quarantines, shopping restrictions, school closures, and travel restrictions. Major businesses reported large numbers of sick employees which caused the European and U.S. stock markets to drop by 27% in a month long sell off. An economic depression was settling in Europe and the United States despite central bank and legislative efforts to prop up the economies. Too many people were becoming sick to do work with the infants, immunocompromised, and elderly taking the brunt of the deaths.

The Effects of Social Media

During this time, a considerable number of cure-alls and remedies were circulating on the precursor to the Social Media Net. One of the biggest social media influencers was Dr. Ida Kofol. She had published a few scientific studies that supported her claims with funding from the Contemporary Patriot Coalition (CPC). Majority of her medical claims concerning H-SDAV were that if one made improvements to their lymphatic system flow, this disease wouldn’t be so severe or long lasting. She advocated drinking plenty of water to flush the lymph system; taking garlic, turmeric, and citrus pills; and doing a lymphatic cleanse by eating asparagus for an entire week. She also featured videos showing various exercises and personal ways to clear your lymphatic system. Not to mention a lymphatic drainage detox suit that could be purchased from her online store for a discounted amount of $350 USD.

Her claims were challenged by various scientific and mainstream sources, and yet her ideas kept circulating at a high volume around social media sites. This was despite attempts by the social media operators trying to curb the flow of the information by removing fake sites and flagging the shares.

The Post Pandemic Changes

After the pandemic, the FTC enacted regulatory changes concerning health and fitness claims as it related to “Truth in Advertising.” These changes narrowed what was scientific evidence to non-competing interest; peer-reviewed journals and/or publications of high standards; and not to include industrial or special interest sponsors. They attached all claims to include recirculated social media posts amplifying the original claim either organically or through an influencer platform. These changes sent shock waves through much of the social media community that depended on either scientific backed claims, and/or the recirculation of posts.
Then the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program requested help from the FTC concerning a review of cases involving the mRNA vaccines. The cases dealt with occurrences of hepatitis, enteritis, and encephalitis. The claim that the vaccines caused hepatitis had been ruled as fake by the CDC. These claims were based on rat studies years earlier. The encephalitis cases were never linked to the vaccines but were found to be issues associated with the births themselves. Only the enteritis was considered a valid problem with one of the mRNA vaccines. It wasn’t certain if one compound in the vaccine or the LNP was reducing the effects of medications for Chron’s disease. As a precaution, those with Chron’s disease were advised to receive one of the other vaccines.

All these claims in the injury compensation program had one commonality, all the victims were supporters or customers of Dr. Ida Kofol. While Dr. Kofol never advocated to people not to get the vaccine, she wanted to inform people of alternatives and possible unspoken risks. The FTC reviewed all of Dr. Kofol’s online material and noticed that under the current regulations she would be in violation. The problem was, under the old rules, she wasn’t in violation during the pandemic itself, but only the current activity. The FTC then reviewed other similar sites and social media active during the pandemic and found similar claims to that of Dr. Kofol. Under the direction of the White House, the Chair of the FTC pushed legal action against the operators and influencers of these sites.

All these lawsuits would end up in the U.S. Supreme Court as a free speech case versus the commerce clause. The court would rule in favor of the commerce clause citing “that free speech doesn’t include the promotion of false claims for nefarious purposes” but added that “it’s up to commissions and government entities, such as the FTC, to prove to the courts both that the claims are false and nefarious.”

It was at this point in the United States that the supplement, diet and “alternative medicine” market collapsed. An approximate 75-billion-dollar industry was replaced with the established medical and pharmaceutical complex. The only alternative medicine groups to survive were those that had state licensing boards, like those for Traditional Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, and massage therapy.

While not part of the lawsuits, physical trainers and exercise experts pulled their videos for fear of being the next target. How we dieted and exercised changed in the post-human-SDAV pandemic economy. People had to use certified dietitians, clinics or medical professionals for supplements and diet issues. While you could still do exercise on your own, more people used monitored gyms and/or signed up for classes since there was a lack of videos.

Some saw this as a major social improvement since now the quackery and misinformation was gone, but it had a chilling effect on medical science by reinforcing entrenched biases.