Posted on 09/07/2004 8:48:00 PM PDT by Changing Worldviews
Compulsory Mental Health Screening is Coming For Adults and Children Preschool and Up... August 23, 2004 by Sharon Hughes
There is a new major U.S. mental health initiative on the docket, based on a report of the New Freedom in Mental Health Commission, which recommends mental health screening for adults and children as young as preschool age, in primary care health settings, schools, and correctional facilities. It also includes expanding school-based mental health programs requiring specific treatments for specific conditions, including the use of specific medications. Despite a growing public opposition to universal mental health screening, states are being encouraged by the federal government to adopt the measure. Last month Illinois bureaucrats began pushing through a plan passed into law by their legislature to screen the mental health of all pregnant women and children up to 18 years of age in their state. The plan also includes discounted psychotropic drugs.
As reported in the Illinois Leader, Larry Trainor, a parent of four children and Illinois contact for the Los Angeles based Citizens Commission on Human Rights, said, "Since psychiatric involvement in education, SAT scores have gone down for the past few decades. Evaluating mental conditions is not based on scientific evidence, it's subjective."
Pulling from the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health's Executive Summary:
In a transformed mental health system, the early detection of mental health problems in children and adults - through routine and comprehensive testing and screening - will be an expected and typical occurrence. At the first sign of difficulties, preventive interventions will be started to keep problems from escalating. For example, a child whose serious emotional disturbance is identified early will receive care, preventing the potential onset of a co-occurring substance use disorder and breaking a cycle that otherwise can lead to school failure and other problems.
Quality screening and early intervention will occur in both readily accessible, low-stigma settings, such as primary health care facilities and schools, and in settings in which a high level of risk exists for mental health problems, such as criminal justice, juvenile justice, and child welfare systems. Both children and adults will be screened for mental illnesses during their routine physical exams.
To aid in transforming the mental health system, the Commission makes four recommendations:
4.1 Promote the mental health of young children.
4.2 Improve and expand school mental health programs.
4.3 Screen for co-occurring mental and substance use disorders and link with integrated treatment strategies.
4.4 Screen for mental disorders in primary health care, across the lifespan, and connect to treatment and supports.
The New York Times reported last week that Dr. Andrew D. Mosholder, a senior epidemiologist at the Food and Drug Administration wrote a memo about a new study which confirms his findings from 22 other studies showing that the use of antidepressants for children is too dangerous because of the suicide risk. However, "his superiors strongly disagreed with his findings, kept his recommendations secret and initiated a new analysis." The New York Times secured a copy of his memo.
If you think that the government and schools are intruding in an area that should be the responsibility of parents and the family doctor then TAKE ACTION!
Contact Rep. Hastert (202-225-2976) Senator Frist (202-224-3344) House Education and Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner at 202-225-6205 Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Chairman Judd Gregg at 202-224-3324 Alert your State Legislatures: http://www.ncsl.org/public/leglinks.cfm Oppose school board initiatives to add psychiatric personnel and screening programs.
© Sharon Hughes 2004
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Sharon is the President of The Center for Changing Worldviews, and hosts Changing Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard on KDIA AM1640 San Francisco; KGDP AM660 Santa Maria, CA and WITA AM1490 Knoxville,TN, as well as online daily at Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several online news sites including American Daily.com, CaliforniaRepublic.org, ChronWatch.com, Ediblog.com, Laptoplobbyist, MichNews.com, Newsbull.com, NewsWithviews.com, RaidersNewsUpdate.com RenewAmerica.us. For further information visit her: Website www.changingworldviews.com Blogsite http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com Contact: sharon@changingworldviews.com
It should be compulsory for Leftists only.
No, wait - we all know beyond doubt they're fantastically mentally disturbed.
Welcome to the Free Republic.
Welcome to FR.
Is free tinfoil included with the screenings?
And the Leftists wonder why so many parents are switching to home schooling rather than this institutionalized insanity.
Disturbing...very.
later
Welcome to hitler SS
Just wait - anyone expressing opposition to homosexuality,
abortion, socialism, etc., or identifying themselves as
Bible-believing Christians will be declared mentally ill,
in need of medication and "re-education". The brave new
world is here!
Calling Mr. Orwell...
Thank you everyone for your comments to my first article on Free Republic!
You know, I can’t help thinking about the quote of Dr. Chester Pierce, Professor of Education and Psychiatry at Harvard, as relating to what we are talking about. He said ,"Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our Founding Fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It's up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well - by creating the international child of the future."
You may want to hear my interview with reporter Rhonda Robinson of the Illinois Leader on this subject, online. Just go to my website at www.changingworldviews.com and click on the mic at the top right. After tomorrow it will be on the Broadcast Archives page.
See you later,
Sharon Hughes
Welcome to Free Republic.
Thank you everyone for your comments to my first article on Free Republic! You know, I can’t help thinking about the quote of Dr. Chester Pierce, Professor of Education and Psychiatry at Harvard, as relating to what we are talking about. He said ,"Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our Founding Fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It's up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well - by creating the international child of the future."
Welcome to FreeRepublic.com .....
ping and read post #12
I know a bad idea when I see one, and THIS is a bad idea.
I grew p in the Ritalin driven 80's in NJ.
They had a grand old time telling kids on one hand "Don't do drugs!" while on teh other hand pumping them full of Ritalin.
They'd bring in psychologists to make predetermined 'diagnosis' of 'problems' so that they could do a little bit of social engineering experimentation on us.
Anyone 'the educators' didn't like or didn't want to be bothered with got put on Ritalin.
Got to see a kid, calmest kid you've ever run into, go from being calm and quiet to being an outrageous nightmare.
And that was after they'd put himon Ritalin.
All after bogus psychological screenings by the friendly schoolboard's head shrinker.
His 'diagniosis' of me?
He sat there for 5 minutes glaring at me, no questions asked, no actual tests done, and declared me "hyper-active anti-social borderline psychotic".
In first grade.
As an underclassman, I hung out with a lot of the psych grads because my best friend was working on her masters. Those were the most troubled people on campus. I cringe for their patients.
I dropped out of U.C. in the late sixties. I was forced to see the school shrink as part of the process. I told him my reasons for dropping out (not interested in school, too big a school, wanted to go out and start working). After about half an hour of my litany, his only question was, "how long have you hated your parents?"
I just looked at him in a pitiful way, shook my head, and walked out the door. What a kook!
LOL!
Yeah, had a pop psychology princess tell me that I have issues with my parents and that was why he was going to have me arrested.(?)
He's a pastor(!) at the missus church and uses the most convoluted reasoning I have ever run across.
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