I was just reading DocJohn's blog entry about mental health screening. What do you all think about that? I can understand that it's scary to give the schools more control over our children, especially in an area like this, and especially if they are going to be pushing meds that may not be warranted, but if the schools don't do something, what about all the kids with legitimate mental illness who would benefit from treatment they are not receiving? This is stirring up some deep feelings for me, especially since I'm interviewing tomorrow for a job doing mental health screening for Head Start, and also because I'm one of those kids who slipped through the cracks and wasn't detected, and my life could have been very different if someone had cared enough to do something back then.

I left a comment:

<font color=blue>What, exactly, do they plan to do with the results of this screening? I have mixed feelings. I don’t think that just medicating all these kids is going to solve anything, and that may cause whole new problems. But, on the other hand, when there are legitimate mental health concerns that can be detected and effectively treated (including provision of social support, encouragement of resiliency, etc.), then that could be a very good thing. This issue hits home with me on a number of counts. I had obvious symptoms of depression that I can trace back to at least the age of 9, and probably 5 or 6 or earlier. It only got worse as I got older, even through adulthood, and I am so angry at all the people who could have and should have done something back then. Maybe I wouldn’t spent 30 years believing that I had no potential and was doomed to failure, and that nobody cared. But, back then I would not have questioned taking medications, although now I don’t feel that is the answer for me.

Now I have applied for a job doing mental health screening with preschool children. As a screener, I doubt that I will have much if any influence on what treatment is provided, although I think I would have some involvement with followup. The job would be a great opportunity for me, but I hope that I would be doing some good, and not harm.
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What do you think?

<font color=orange>"If a light beckons to you, follow it. If it leads you into the quagmire, you'll probably find your way out of it again; but if you don't follow it, you'll be plagued for the rest of your life by the thought that perhaps it was your star." Friedrich Hebbet</font color=orange>