In 2003 a report on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mental health care\u00e2\u20ac\u009d presented to the federal government recommended that all 52 million American schoolchildren be screened for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mental illness,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d claiming\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwithout a shred of scientific evidence\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat \u00e2\u20ac\u0153early detection, assessment, and links with treatment\u00e2\u20ac\u009d could \u00e2\u20ac\u0153prevent mental health problems from worsening.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Already implemented in many states, screening and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153intervention\u00e2\u20ac\u009d is to be provided through primary health care facilities, schools, juvenile justice and child welfare\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto anyone aged between 3 and 21. Millions of taxpayer dollars have already been allocated to this, which means that America\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s already burgeoning numbers of children being prescribed potentially lethal psychiatric drugs could treble within a few years to 30 million.<\/p>\n
Drugs Cause Violence, Suicide and Death<\/strong><\/p>\n Ten million American children are already prescribed drugs that can kill them or predispose them to later illicit drug abuse, violence or suicide.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Antidepressants are commonly prescribed as a result of mental health screening, yet dozens of international drug regulatory agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), warn that these drugs cause anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, irritability, hostility, impulsivity, akathisia (severe restlessness), hypomania (abnormal excitement) and mania (psychosis characterized by exalted feelings and delusions of grandeur).<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In October 2004, the FDA ordered its most stringent \u00e2\u20ac\u0153black box\u00e2\u20ac\u009d warning that antidepressants also cause suicide in children and adolescents. In November 2005, it ordered labeling changes to the antidepressant, Effexor, warning that it could cause \u00e2\u20ac\u0153homicidal ideation.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 In 2006, the FDA also revealed that stimulants\u00e2\u20ac\u201dprescribed to 6 million American children for so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153learning\u00e2\u20ac\u009d or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153behavioral disorders\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201dcould cause hallucinations, psychosis, strokes, heart attacks and death. Already there have been 25 deaths. The public was also warned that there had been 45 child deaths from antipsychotic drugs, largely prescribed for the same \u00e2\u20ac\u0153disorders.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n The Prescribed Drugs Behind School Shootings<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 At least 8 out of 13 school shootings have been committed by teens taking these prescribed mind-altering drugs. The medical information of the other teen killers is not publicly available.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 False claims have been made that screening can prevent suicides. Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America<\/em>, says, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re pulling numbers out of thin air\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfalsely presuming that this crisis is about lack of access to drugs and calling for government to provide more and more of what many of us believe is the wrong kind of treatment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n Screening Doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Prevent Suicide; Drugs Increase It<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Psychiatrists claim that antidepressants decrease suicide, but according to a Journal of the American Medical Association <\/em>study, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Despite a dramatic increase in treatment, no significant decrease occurred in suicidal thoughts, plans, gestures, or attempts in the United States during the 1990s.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts in primary care and prevention, said it had \u00e2\u20ac\u0153found no evidence that screening for suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or mortality.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A 2005 study by Dr. David Healy and Graham Aldred from the North Wales Department of Psychological Medicine, Cardiff University, Wales, reported that the studies of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants show that they increase<\/em> the risk of suicide.<\/p>\n TeenScreen Lacks Reliability and Science<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 One of the recommended screening programs for schools is called TeenScreen\u00e2\u201e\u00a2. Dr. David Shaffer, the psychiatrist that developed this, admitted that use of this screening method could mean 84 non-suicidal teens could be referred for further evaluation for every 16 youths \u00e2\u20ac\u0153correctly identified.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kelly Patricia O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Meara, journalist and former congressional staff, warns: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since when does an 84% failure rate equate to a reliable scientific test? In other words, based on [Dr.] Shaffer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s study of his own test, 84 students out of 100 will be incorrectly identified as suffering from a specific mental illness. One has to wonder if parents of America are informed of this astonishing statistic as part of information to consider when having to decide whether or not to allow the mental health screening test.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The subjective questions in TeenScreen include, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Has there been a time when nothing was fun for you and you just weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t interested in anything?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Has there been a time when you felt you couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do anything well or that you weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as good looking or as smart as other people?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Based on the outcome, a further questionnaire looks for 18 psychiatric disorders, based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders <\/em>(DSM).<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 The DSM is noted for its lack of scientific credibility and its unreliability. In April 2005, a study published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics<\/em> also determined there were undisclosed financial relationships between the pharmaceutical industry and psychiatrists involved in voting on which \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mental disorders\u00e2\u20ac\u009d should be included in the DSM. Researchers Lisa Cosgrove, a psychologist from the University of Massachusetts and Sheldon Krimsky, a Tuft University professor, found that drug companies funded 100% of psychiatrists involved in the panels determining \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mood disorders,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u0153depression\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153psychotic disorders,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which account for more than $20 billion in drug sales. Drug companies also fund TeenScreen testing of students.<\/p>\n Parental Consent and Government Funding<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Parents need to know that unlike medical diseases, there is no x-ray, blood or other physical test to determine if a child has a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mental disorder,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that mental health screening is based on subjective questions, not medical science, and that any \u00e2\u20ac\u0153informed consent\u00e2\u20ac\u009d form must obtain the above information.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a7\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Government funding should never be used for mental health-screening programs and should be allocated, instead, to better educational facilities, teachers and tutoring to improve the literacy and educational standards of students.<\/p>\n For more information visit http:\/\/www.cchrstl.org\/screening.shtml<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ten million American children are already prescribed drugs that can kill them or predispose them to later illicit drug abuse, violence or suicide. 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