I previously wrote about the benefits of screening our children for mental health issues. That all stemmed from a comment made to another article I'd written that sent me off on a bit of a rant.
Now the downside. Firstly, I have no tolerance for the government telling me what to do with my child. Forcing this kind of testing would have to be legislated and that leads down a slippery slope. It raises so many questions like: Who will have access to the information? Will treatment also be mandatory? Will this lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy? (A child has the potential to have an eating disorder and the parent focuses so much on it that the child does develop one. From potential problem to factual problem.) Once the government takes choice out of our hands that specific situation becomes "normal". After a time you no longer see it as an invasion of your liberties, it's just routine.I just don’t see a way for mandatory screening to be acceptable. Children should only be tested with parental consent. Unfortunately, a fair amount the children who would most benefit from this type of testing have parents that either not seek out the screening or would flat out refuse.
What's your view of this issue? I'd love to hear it!
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I'm all for putting mental health on the same footing as physical health but at the moment there doesn't seem to be much evidence that mental health sreening works. We need to take young people's wellbeing seriously but not put them into a mental health category while their brains are still developing. I would say include some mental health questions in any existing physical health check ups.
Posted by: Mad World | September 24, 2007 5:32 AM | Permalink to Comment