Posted by Mr Sandman on December 11, 2004, at 20:51:31
THis is a recommendation of President Bush's "New Freedom Commission" that found its way into his "No Child Left Behind" legislation now pending in Congress. All school children
would be screened without parental consent, and their teachers would be tested as well.As much as I would like to see broader access to mental health care and timely diagnosis of major mental illness in young people,the potential for commercial and political abuse of such a vast federal program rather frightens me. It wasn't too long ago That the Soviets defined political dissidence as a mental illness and treated it with heavy doses of anti-psychotics.(Which, by the way are back in vogue in "atypical" formulations, still
under patent and highly profitable.)
Here's a link to the overview from the British Medical Journal:
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/328/7454/1458
The American Psychiatric Association has played down the controversy.
Any comments?
poster:Mr Sandman
thread:427974
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20041129/msgs/427974.html