A huge debate has sprung up regarding whether or not children and teens should be screened for mental health conditions.  The controversy seems to have really taken center stage since Teenscreen, a Columbia University program that screens young people for mental health conditions came under scrutiny.  Critics claim that the program is connected to the drug industry, which is attempting to drug our children unneccessarily.  Supporters claim that screening students can prevent suicide if they receive the proper treatment ahead of time. 

Well here is my opinion:  having been "drugged" as an 18 year old for my condition of bipolar disorder, I feel that this is one of the things that saved my life.  I wish that Teenscreen was around when I was younger.  Even though I was showing signs and symptoms of my Bipolar disorder when I was in high school, nothing was done, and no one checked to see if I was in danger of having a mental disorder until I made a suicide attempt.  This, to me was too little too late.  What if I had succeeded?  I remember that for years before I made the attempt in my first year of college, I had had suicidal ideation.  But, I wasn't going to share this with my family or teachers.  I wish that a guidance counselor had come to me with a test like this, and done some early intervention.  Perhaps my illness would not have gotten to be so severe had I been medicated earlier. 

Which brings me to my second point:  Medication can be necessary, even for young people.  Because I have been on medication for half of my life now, I HAVE A LIFE.  My illness brought me to a very dark place where I had no job, no home, no life.  Getting on the right medication, in combination with other things such as therapy, gave me myself back.  The fearmongers out there that think that we are "overdrugging our youth" are just that, fearmongers.  As a teacher, I can tell you that NOT ENOUGH of my students were getting the medication which would help them to function better in school and life.  I speak from personal experience here, and I believe that that is much more valid than the theorists out there that claim that we are becoming like Brave New World, where we drug people in society into submission.  

My medication has not changed my personality.  It does not prevent me from being my authentic self.  There are not chips in my medication that go back to the government, which then brainwashes me.  With my meds, my mental health symptoms disappear so that I am then on a level playing field with those that do not have mental health symptoms.  And this is a blessing.  

I was not always pro-medication.  Before I went on it, I was scared that it would change me.  And it has:  MEDICATION HAS CHANGED ME FOR THE BETTER. Just ask the people that know and love me.  Or if you want the objective answer, ask my therapist.  I'll give you her number.  

To say that we should not screen kids for mental health issues because then maybe they will go on medication is akin to the argument that I once got from a school social worker that their suicide prevention policy was "if we just don't talk about suicide, then kids will not commit suicide."  It's ignorance, plain and simple. 

So, to all the fearmongers out there who say that screening kids is a drug company scheme to make money, I say that you are not fully aware of the facts.  Let your child try to commit suicide because no one has been able to pick up on his or her symptoms, and then let's hear your opinion.  

Be Well
~Emily