Trolling for Depression

[RBHam]

mods...i first posted in editorials...but thought it was worthy of discussion here on GD...implications and all that jazz...

This is just the beginning. Mind control through better chemistry? Trolling for depression? I wonder if the Pharmaceutical Industry has anything to do with this...heh, heh...

Depressed? New York City Screens for People at Risk...
By MARC SANTORA and BENEDICT CAREY

excerpt:
In 2003, an expert panel convened by President Bush (ALARM BELLS!) recommended expanding mental health screening, and Congress budgeted $20 million in supporting money for state pilot programs for this year. Several states, including populous states like Florida and Illinois, have begun to investigate large-scale screening plans, and scores of schools and other youth centers throughout the country have used instruments to test youngsters for suicide risk.

But some politicians and advocates for patients argue that testing people broadly for mental conditions is an invitation to overdiagnosis, unnecessary treatment and lifelong stigmatization.

In New York, no federal money is being used for the program, which is under way in hospitals run by the city. The test, which is being given to adults only, derives a depression score from the answers to nine questions. It is not meant to yield a formal diagnosis, but a high score would lead a doctor to recommend a more thorough clinical screening.

The test includes questions about mood and behavior.

more, if you can stand it...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/health/13depress.html...

Don't you feel better now? Knowing that George Bush and his drug pushing minions are so concerned about your mental health?

[patricia92243]

1. If my child was suicidal, I would want to know it. n/t

[shadowknows69]

2. anybody see the movie equilibrium?

'librium will be what we're all on. a nation of emotionless zombies. oh except for that necessary emotion of rage when someone is discovered not taking their dosage. then off to the incinerators with you.

[Celebration]

3. Me too!!

Especially since SSRIs increase the rate of suicide!! Make no mistake about this, this effort is designed to ensure greater sales of pharmaceutical drugs, with all the implications.

[SmokingJacket]

8. That's exactly why I disagree with this approach.

If someone told me my child was depressed and at risk for suicide -- if if I had no other reason to believe this and in my heart didn't believe it -- I would feel that I HAD to get him into treatment, maybe even on medication. I would begin to distrust myself and worry that if I didn't do something, I'd lose him. See how much power they have?

It's *so easy* to exploit parents who want the best for their children. All screening and recommendations for screening should originate with the parents, the child himself, or with teachers and other people who know the child well. Have strangers mass-screen people (especially children -- which I know they're not doing in NY) is a recipe for disaster.

[burn the bush]

4. this is probably just a bush presidency popularity poll

they are just testing to see

A) How many people are onto them therefore depressed as hell.

B) How many of them libruls are ready to "suicide" in the eyes of their families.

C) how many people they can give a clinical diagnosis of depressed to.
this might make them unstable or even terroristic, so it's best to have a paper that proves they should be locked away.

[lostnfound]

5. Amazing how these "good" ideas keep popping up in multiple states, like..

liability caps, anti-gay-marriage amendments, "Academic Bill of Rights" bills, etc.

"Mental health screening" was proposed in Texas not long ago.

[seemslikeadream]

6. Why do you think there is so much TV advertising of Zoloft

and the like. They're pushing this stuff like candy.

[Igel]

7. It's a broad-spectrum conspiracy:

"In New York, no federal money is being used for the program, which is under way in hospitals run by the city. The test, which is being given to adults only, derives a depression score from the answers to nine questions. It is not meant to yield a formal diagnosis, but a high score would lead a doctor to recommend a more thorough clinical screening."

NYC, hardly a bastion of right-wing, facist attitudes.

I figure it's caused by two factors. First, it's where extreme risk-aversion takes you, looking out for number one. People go postal? People commit suicide, and want company in the process? It's random, and you can't protect against it? Well, screen them all, find the people that might do it, and keep them from shooting at you, or giving you a hard time at the water cooler.

Second, it's deciding how Cain's question should be answered: "Am I my brother's keeper?" "Sure! I'm imminently qualified to tell everybody else how to live their lives!" Unfortunately, if the people doing the talking fall into certain specialties, we tend to believe them.

I'll also note that in Congress members on both the left and right have pushed for legislation making screening, at least for kids, optional and requiring notification. For adults, at least for the present, it always is.

[RBHam]

9. kick

:kick: