(1888PressRelease)
April 04, 2009 - Los Angeles – In the April Issue of Pediatrics, the government's U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is urging doctors to routinely screen all American teens for depression using methods that the task force had previously condemned in their 2004 and 2006 reports, which found no evidence that screening for suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or death. The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a non-profit group dedicated to protecting human rights in the field of mental health, has produced a short video to inform the public on the true nature of mental health screening and how it will assuredly lead to more kids being put on psychotropic drugs.
Since all mental health screening questionnaires are based on opinion only, asking teens such questions as "Has there been a time when you had less energy than you usually do?" or "Has there been a time when doing even little things made you feel really tired?" or "Has there been a time when you couldn't think as clearly or as fast as usual?" can only give a short glimpse of a teenager's feelings that day, typically filled with teenage angst and raging hormones.
Subjecting all teens to mental health screening questionaires that can't determine who will become suicidal opens the door to widespread misdiagnosis and exposes teens to drugs that a study published in the January 2007 issue of Public Library of Science Medicine magazine showed were no more effective than placebo. SSRI antidepressants also carry the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's strongest "black box" warning that alerts consumers to an increased risk of suicide, especially for teens and young adults.
Disregarding the alarming evidence of the inefficacy and dangers of antidepressants, more prescriptions for the drug were written than for any other class of drugs in the U.S. in 2007, according to the March 12, 2008 IMS Health report, "IMS Health Reports U.S. Prescription Sales Grew 3.8 Percent in 2007, to $286.5 Billion." Specifically for adolescents, a September 25, 2008 report, "A three-country comparison of psychotropic medication prevalence in youth," published in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health showed that U.S. youth were prescribed antidepressants at a rate about three times greater than youths in Western Europe.
Despite this alarmingly high antidepressant prescription rate, the USPSTF recommends mental health screening and treatment including antidepressants; using screening methods that the USPSTF previously stated couldn't prevent suicides. According to the article, "Suicide-Risk for Teens Debated," in the June 16, 2006 issue of the Washington Post, USPSTF Chairman, Ned Calonge, stated "There is weak evidence that screening can distinguish people who will commit suicide from those who will not…. Such interventions have consequences beyond side effects from drugs or other treatments."
Implementing the USPSTF's recommendations will mean subjecting U.S. teens to illegitimate screening questionnaires that can lead to misdiagnosis and exposing them to dangerous psychiatric treatments. CCHR urges the public to enlighten themselves about mental health screening by watching this 4-minute video.
This is a public service announcement provided by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR®). CCHR was established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights. For more information, go to www.cchr.org.
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