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�Depression�
Screening
Psychiatrists and psychologists advise that the worsening state
of our youth provides justification for �mandatory, universal behavioral�
or �mental illness� screening. With this license to inspect every child
from preschool to college and university, they fraudulently claim they
can identify those �at risk� of becoming unstable, anti-social and even
violent.
Beverly Eakman warns, �The term �screening� takes on new meaning
as children, and by extension, their families, today are assessed for
supposed �markers� of psychological disorders � with the results of such
analyses going into cross-referenced electronic transfer systems.� In
other words, the child once �assessed� by the mental health industry will
have this information permanently in his school and medical records.
The TeenScreen � program in the United States claims that identifying
and �treating� �at risk� children can prevent suicide. Yet a 2003 Nevada
report noted that 31% of the students that had been screened �are in therapy;
9% are seeing a psychiatrist and are on � medication, and 1% have already
made suicide attempts.� Panama, Guam and Canada also deliver TeenScreen.
The program�s �health� survey asks students questions such as,
�Has there been a time when nothing was fun for you and you just weren�t
interested in anything?� and �Has there been a time when you felt you
couldn�t do anything well or that you weren�t as good-looking or as smart
as other people?� With enough checks against the questions, the next questionnaire,
called the �Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children� (DISC), purportedly
checks for 18 psychiatric disorders. The child is then referred to a psychologist
or psychiatrist and, usually, prescribed drugs.
Joseph Glenmullen of Harvard Medical School says the questionnaires
used to diagnose depression �may look scientific,� but �when one examines
the questions asked and the scales used, they are utterly subjective measures.�
Dr. Julian Whitaker, a respected U.S. physician and founder of
the Whitaker Wellness Center, tells this story: �I took one [depression]
test, entitled the Zung Assessment Tool, at the Prozac website. You respond
to 20 phrases with one of the following: not often, sometimes, often,
or all the time. Phrases include, �I feel downhearted, blue, and sad.�
�I have trouble sleeping through the night.� �I eat as much as I used
to,� �I have trouble with constipation.� �My mind is as clear as it used
to be.� �I am more irritable than usual.� �I find it easy to make decisions.�
(As you see, some of these questions are confusing, if not irrational.)
�I selected �sometimes� for every phrase, as a normal, healthy
person would. My score was 50, and I was advised to show this test to
my doctor and �ask him or her to evaluate you for depression.��
Not surprising, obtaining parental consent through the schools has been
a problem. One newsletter reports, �As many of our community partners
know, getting signed consent forms back to participate in a TeenScreen
program is no simple task. We urge sites to be creative regarding this
first step of the program�for example, coming up with unique incentives
that appeal to the students, such as movie rentals or fast food coupons.�
Other incentives include $5 cash, gift certificates, food vouchers, a
pizza party, pens and offering extra school credit to students who return
the forms signed by their parents by the end of the school week.
�Depression screening� in the general community has influenced the 60
million prescriptions for antidepressants written in the United States�about
10% of the American population, including 1.5 million children. England�s
�Defeat Depression Campaign� resulted in the �prescribing of antidepressants
by general practitioners rising substantially.� As later discussed, these
drugs cause or increase violent and suicidal behavior. The �TeenScreen�
and other �depression screening� programs are thereby potential causes
of greatly increased youth suicides when drugs are prescribed to supposedly
�at risk� children.
In 2001, a Minnesota bill which would have mandated mental health
screening in public schools was defeated. Discussing his testimony against
the bill, psychologist Bill Harley stated, �I asked the members how they
would feel about a legislature-wide screening (of politicians) for mental
health disorders along with early intervention. Those doing the screening
would be paid by the legislature to provide extensive therapy, if a potential
problem were found to exist in any of them. And, of course, the results
of the screening would be available to a host of individuals, along with
the therapeutic plan and their willingness to cooperate with that plan.
�Then, I mentioned that I could easily identify in every legislator
an emotional predisposition that could possibly create problems
for them in the future, and design a lengthy treatment plan as
an early intervention. � Screening and early intervention sounds
like a great idea until you turn out to be the one being screened.
Then the problems with that approach become much easier to see.�
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