Story at-a-glance

• The United States has been unique in its dedication to free speech, but that Constitutional right has been slowly eroded in the name of national security and protecting public health
• In 1950, Sen. Joseph McCarthy claimed to have proof of a communist spy ring within the U.S. State Department. The lesson from that time was the destructive power of accusation
• In 2017, an organization called Hamilton 68 claimed to have proof showing hundreds of Russian-affiliated Twitter accounts manipulated the U.S. election to get Trump into the White House. It turned out to be a complete hoax, but media never updated the public with that truth
• In 1948, the same year the CIA launched Project Mockingbird, the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act (aka the Smith-Mundt Act) became law, which forbade the U.S. government from pushing propaganda onto the U.S. population. President Barrack Obama repealed this law in 2013, thereby legalizing the propagandizing of Americans
• For propaganda to be truly successful, especially in the long term, you also need censorship, and in the U.S., this requires the undermining of free speech rights. The undermining of free speech took off at the end of 2016 when Obama signed into law the Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act, which opened the door to an offensive information war against the public

Story at-a-glance

• From 2019 to 2022, use of mental health care services increased 38.8% among about 7 million adults with private health insurance
• Spending on mental health services also jumped — by 53.7% — during that time
• Americans' mental health reached a new low in 2022, with only 31% describing theirs as "excellent" — the lowest percentage in more than two decades
• With $656 million in spending in 2022, it's estimated that the market for mood-boosting supplements will reach $1.3 billion by the end of 2033, as many seek alternative options to improve their mental health
• Supplements such as ashwagandha, vitamin B12, omega-3 fats and probiotics may support mental health, but an integrative approach is necessary to get to the root of the problem