Mental Health Screening: A "Movement"?

Described by some advocates as "A Movement in the Making", the idea of mental health screening for school-aged youth is gaining ground, promoted by professionals and politicians, including Gordon Smith of Oregon, who lost his own son to suicide a few years ago.

I first became aware of this 'movement' after the Columbine shootings, when there were suggestions floated for universal, mandatory mental health screening for all adolescents. In addition to being appalled by the concept, I was struck by the difference in reactions to similar behaviors by youth and adults. Around the same time as Columbine, an adult shot up a library -- but there were no calls for universal, mandatory mental health screening of adults. Only young people seem to be fair game for such sweeping measures.

Currently, the debate concerns 'voluntary' screenings -- though one wonders how 'voluntary' they will be, as you are required to 'opt out' rather than 'opt in'. As the entire 'movement' is being pushed under the banner of caring for children, I can imagine that parents will feel great pressure to participate so as to avoid being seen as 'uncaring'. As this 'movement' continues to gain ground, however, it is foreseeable that the current nod to 'voluntarism' will eventually morph into 'mandatory'.

While recognizing that advocates such as Gordon Smith are sincere in their intentions, and with nothing but sympathy for the pain of their personal experiences with mental health issues, the InterNetwork for Youth opposes expansion of mental health screenings efforts on both principle and premise. The principle that a mandatory education system, in partnership with the State, should be the primary arbitrator of the mental health status of an entire class of people is nothing less than frightening. The premise that there is an accurate screening tool for, or measurement of, the mental health status of young people is unfounded at best. Consider that signs of depression in young people include sleeping too much and sleeping too little, and eating too much and eating too little -- with vague definitions for what is 'too much' or 'too little'.

The InterNetwork for Youth believes that young people, as a class of people, are already over-diagnosed and over-medicated. As the mental health screening 'movement' continues to gain ground, is there any doubt that support will grow for greater diagnosis and medication?

Mental health issues affect young people, as they do any group of people -- but the mental health screening 'movement' is one where the cure may be worse than the disease.