Pinellas Schools Bar Suicide Test For Teenagers (Florida)

[tlcandie]

http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBMUVWXE4E.html

<snip>
LARGO - Pinellas County School Board members on Tuesday refused to subject students to suicide screenings, quashing any hope of introducing a controversial mental health plan in two of Florida's largest school districts.

Board members took less than 30 minutes to reject a proposal to change a policy that prohibits surveys such as TeenScreen, a test designed to spot suicidal thoughts and other mental health disorders in youngsters.

Their decision met with applause from an audience of nearly 140 people, mostly members of the Church of Scientology, whose adherents have overwhelmed the board with e-mail expressing outrage over the proposal.
<snip>

A lot more if care to read it...

http://www.teenscreen.org/

The TeenScreen site has some Q/A's and lots of information. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but I recall * wanting to MANDATE mental health tests for Americans and I'm concerned that it seems to be going on starting with our children. Good idea? Bad idea? :shrug: I am in a hurry to get to school myself today...

http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/Bush-TeenScreen-Program.htm


<snip>
The Bush administration initiative began with the launch of the "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health" in April 2002, resulting in the TeenScreen® Program for screening of children for mental illness, developed by Columbia University physicians, the same group that has been designated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to review the studies on SSRI-antidepressants inducing self-harm & suicide in children. Two of the physicians participating in the FDA initiated Columbia University review of the studies on SSRI-antidepressants inducing self-harm & suicide in children are Dr J. John Mann M.D. & Dr David Shaffer M.D. Both physicians participated in the "ACNP Task Force" (American College of Neuropsychopharmacology) study concluding SSRI antidepressants are safe and effective and did not increase the risk of suicide in children and adolescents. Clearly, "ACNP Task Force" attempted to deflect the impact of an alarming body of previously concealed evidence uncovered by the British medicine authority MHRA. The independent British review of the unpublished company data from controlled clinical trials in children and adolescents, revealed that SSRIs were not beneficial for children and that children who took the drugs were at two-to-threefold increased risk of becoming suicidal.]

The screening program asks a variety of questions about mental well-being. Examples include: "In the last year, 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 couldn't think as clearly or as fast as usual?" The "New Freedom Commission on Mental Health" recommended that the screening be linked with "treatment and supports," including "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." Eli Lilly & Company, manufacturer of Prozac, Zyprexa & Olanzapine, the latter, one of the drugs recommended in the plan, has multiple ties to the Bush administration. Corrupt connections between the Bush family, Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and the CIA were recently brought to public attention again.

The Bush administration US Screen Program, deceptively titled the "New Freedom Initiative for People with Disabilities", hides it's secrets way down deep in Chapter 4, under the section "Promoting Full Access to Community Life." The full 2004 progress report can be found at the following URL: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/newfreedom/toc-2004.html
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Lots more at this site as well ...

[Last Lemming]

1. If you want

sell them drugs, you damn well better promote them diseases

[melnjones]

2. I'm not a fan of the fact that it's being used to help the pharmaceutical

companies, but the concept of screening in and of itself isn't really a bad one IF there are staff in place in the school system to deal with the results (social workers, counselors, etc). I'm all about mental health screening (voluntary, of course).

[rocktivity]

3. Sucidal tendencies, or just the maturity process?

The screening program asks a variety of questions about mental well-being. Examples include: "In the last year, 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 couldn't think as clearly or as fast as usual?"

EVERYONE has such feelings at one time or another--I'd tend to think you were mentally ill if you DIDN'T. But it doesn't mean you're mentally ill and need medication. It's called life, and the cure is dealing with your problems, aka maturing. The teen years are volatile precisely because the physical and emotional maturing process is beginning. Some teens are more vulnerable than others because they feel things more intensely. But what they should get is adult mentoring and guidance, not "state-of-the-art treatments" and "specific medications."

It really does sound like a boondoggle for patient-hungry pharmaceutical companies.

:headbang:
rocknation

[sybylla]

4. You've pointed out the exact problems I have with "screening"

Thank you for saying it so well.

[Tempest]

5. The TeenScreen scam (Those behind it are drug company shills)

http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/Bush-TeenScreen-Program.htm

[geniph]

6. Gotta get all those kids on drugs!

Pharmaceutical profits are depending on YOU!

Teen suicide's a serious problem, but this is entirely the wrong approach to take. The right approach is a) not funded by the drug companies, b) not a silly-ass multiple choice questionnaire, and c) involves actual human beings actually speaking to the kids, preferably people who know the kid in question. Often, that person is called a parent.

There's just too many horrid possible ramifications of requiring this kind of testing. Who keeps the records? How do you ensure the privacy of the records? How do you guarantee they're not misused in some way (and the potential for misuse is really horrific)?