7/12/06
Dear Member of Congress,
The undersigned individuals and organizations, as concerned Americans, encourage you to join 44 co-sponsors in support for HR 181, The Parental Consent Act of 2005. The Parental Consent Act prohibits federal funds from being used to create or implement any universal or mandatory mental health screening programs by state, local, or federal government agencies.
Here are a few key reasons out of many that this bill is so important:
1. The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued findings and recommendation against screening for suicide that corroborate those of the Canadian Preventive Services Task Force showing no effectiveness of mental health screening. `USPSTF found no evidence that screening for suicide risk reduces suicide attempts or mortality. There is limited evidence on the accuracy of screening tools to identify suicide risk in the primary care setting, including tools to identify those at high risk.
2. The 1999 Surgeon General's report on mental health admitted the serious conflicts in the medical literature regarding the definitions of mental health and mental illness when it said, `In other words, what it means to be mentally healthy is subject to many different interpretations that are rooted in value judgments that may vary across cultures. The challenge of defining mental health has stalled the development of programs to foster mental health
3. Authors of the manual of psychiatric diagnosis, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, admit that the diagnostic criteria for mental illness are vague, saying, `DSM-IV criteria remain a consensus without clear empirical data supporting the number of items required for the diagnosis. . . . Furthermore, the behavioral characteristics specified in DSM-IV, despite efforts to standardize them, remain subjective. . . .' (American Psychiatric Association Committee on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV 1994), pp. 1162-1163).
4. Children are already being coercively screened and medicated; Aliah Gleason, a 13-year-old Texas girl, was forced into a state mental hospital, denied contact with her family for 5 months, restrained more than 26 times, and treated with at least 12 different psychiatric medication, some simultaneously, all as a result of a school “mental health” screening.
5. Based on the New Freedom Commission report that recommends universal mental health screening, several states have or tried to expand universal screening, especially for young children in the 0-5 age range, including Minnesota and Illinois. Florida has developed a Strategic Plan for Infant Mental Health, making the ridiculous claim that, "Even before their first birthday, babies can suffer from clinical depression, traumatic stress disorder, and a variety of other mental health problems.” The 2001 World Health Organization report on mental health directly contradicted this kind of thinking when it said, "Childhood and adolescence being developmental phases, it is difficult to draw clear boundaries between phenomena that are part of normal development and others that are abnormal.” Thank you again for your consideration of this important legislation.
Sincerely,
Eagle Forum,
EdWatch,
Gun Owners of America,
International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology
U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation
Republican Liberty Caucus
American Conservative Union
Fairfax County Privacy Council
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
American Policy Center
