Your Best Interests in Mind

Have you ever seen a recipe on a bottle of tabasco sauce (or something similar) which conveniently calls for an inordinate quantity of product inside? Makes you suspicious, doesn't it? Who do these people think they're fooling?

That's how I feel about this article from the New York Times. It seems awfully convenient that the the U.S. Government (whose political parties are both in bed with the pharmaceutical companies) and psychiatrists (who make money from mentally ill people) see a huge need for "routine depression screening" and treatment (i.e. medications). And if you object to this, it's because you don't take mental illness seriously.

Who do these people think they're fooling?

If ever the political parties were to unite to protect The People, the time is now. They're just trying to screen adults now. Soon government officials will try to implement this nationally in our public schools. As if the overprescription of ritalin in children wasn't awful enough at present ...
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Depressed? New York City Screens for People at Risk

Doctors in New York City have begun to use a simple questionnaire to determine if a patient is at risk for depression, a practice that health officials hope will become a routine part of primary care, much like a blood pressure test or cholesterol reading.

The new program is the first to carry out depression screening using a scored test on a wide scale. It comes amid a spirited national debate among psychiatrists, policy makers and patient-advocacy groups on the wisdom of screening for mental disorders, especially in children.

In 2003, an expert panel convened by President Bush 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.
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Psychiatrists and other proponents say mental health screening is long overdue. They argue that millions of people with serious mental disorders never get help, and that heightened vigilance would not only allow doctors to head off much worse mental problems later, but would also reduce the tremendous costs of untreated illness.
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Critics like Ms. Sharav contend that screening tests will also increase the use of psychiatric drugs, including antidepressants like Zoloft and Prozac, whose use in children and adolescents has recently come under scrutiny by regulators.

Representative Ron Paul, a Texas Republican and a gynecologist, introduced an amendment last fall to block federal financing for screening programs, in part because of worries about overmedicating schoolchildren. The plan was rejected.

<>"We already have a tremendous number of kids being put on drugs like Ritalin and Prozac," Dr. Paul said, "and I think if these screening programs grow, you're going to see a lot of people pushed into medication programs for behavioral problems."
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"Depression is a leading illness in New York City, but it can be effectively treated," said Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the city's health commissioner. "Our surveys show that there are an estimated 400,000 New Yorkers with depression; many have not been accurately diagnosed or effectively treated."