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June 16, 2006

Babies and mental illness


Magic City Morning Star

(covering the Katahdin area of Millinocket, East Millinocket, and Medway, Maine.)
Government's Big Lie: The "Crisis" of Babies With Undiagnosed Mental Illness

By Laura Adelmann
Mar 21, 2006
  http://magic-city-news.com/article_5541.shtml

To the federal government, many newborns, toddlers and preschoolers are undiagnosed mental cases with dire need of "treatment" (read: drugs).

Following the appalling trend of labeling school children with an ever-expanding list of mental disorders and medicating them with the cocaine-class of drugs like Adderall and Ritalin, government is promoting universal mental health screening and treatment " beginning with babies.

The Federal Mental Health Action Agenda, the blueprint to implementing the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, is targeting America's youngest by promoting mental health screenings in places like daycares and schools.

In a 2003 speech, Kathryn Power director of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, excitedly reported that mental health assessments " "prevention and intervention" " are increasingly being conducted in "non-mental health settings." She commended one unnamed community for "placing mental health consultants in child care settings." Also touted was the federal "Prevention and Early Intervention Grant Program." Power noted the program's goal is to reach children " and babies " before they "have a diagnosable problem." At that time, Power stated, more than half of the administration's programs were to focus on infants and preschoolers.

Mandatory screening of children against government-defined criteria of what is "mentally healthy" is an Orwellian nightmare; the government will decide if citizens, starting at birth, are "mentally healthy."

Dr. Karen Effrem, a Johns Hopkins-trained pediatrician, researcher and expert on the government's movement toward universal mental health screening, has been sounding the alarm about the dangers of this Big Pharmaceutical movement for years.

She rightly states, "Government sponsored and controlled universal mental health screening, no matter how sweetly wrapped in the fig leaf of parental consent, should never, ever be implemented. It is never, EVER, the proper role of government to set norms for, assess or intervene in the thoughts and emotions of free citizens, much less innocent, vulnerable, and still developing children. It is our thoughts and emotions that make each of us uniquely and individually human, and we use these thoughts and emotions to understand the world and maintain our inalienable right to liberty."

Once a child has been screened, a highly subjective process, their personal medical information will become part of state records, potentially to be used as a screening tool for health care, employment, military or college admissions. An identified child would likely be ushered further into the psychological system for more assessments and "treatment,"a term that's become a euphemism for Big Psychology's first methodology: Drug therapy. And the mental health establishment is not shy about drugging babies. Between 1995 and 1997, psychotropic drug prescriptions for children from 2 to 4 years old grew by 300 percent.

Under the universal screening system, an identified child's family like would also be brought into the equation. What happens to parents who refuse to obey the psychological establishment's recommendations to drug a baby" Would the parent be considered a child abuser" Perhaps there is a genetic component the government screeners may want examined. Indeed, the actual stated goal of the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health is much broader than just babies, it promotes mental health screening for all, including "Teen Screen," an on-line mental health questionnaire. Effrem said the program's author admits to an 84 percent false-positive rate. "Any other medical test with that high of a false-positive rate would be laughed out of the room," said Effrem in a March 2 speech, (to be available on DVD at www.edwatch.org).

But "universal" mental health screening programs are already being implemented, many through federal grant programs, in states around the nation, said Effrem. The Florida Strategic Plan for Infant Mental Health Plan's goal is to develop a system to prevent children from birth to age five from developing emotional and behavioral disorders.

"Are we going to put the kids in a bubble" Are the parents becoming breeders and feeders so that the government can provide this mental health nirvana for these children?" Effrem asked.

Minnesota's early childhood screening program is being integrated to "ensure" all children ages birth to 5 are screened "early and continuously" for "socio-emotional" (euphemism for mental health) to link "children and their families" to mental health services. In Illinois, "all children" are to receive social and emotional screens and the schools are to incorporate social and emotional standards as part of the state's learning standards.

U.S. Cong. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has been a vocal opponent of mental health screening. In his Sept., 2004 newsletter Texas Straight Talk, he wrote, It's not hard to imagine a time 20 or 30 years from now when government psychiatrists stigmatize children whose religious, social , or political values do not comport with those of the politically correct, secular state."

It may not take that long; Effrem said some mental health and violence-prevention programs are already labeling children as mentally ill or potentially violent based on political and religious criteria.

The people need to speak out: There is no baby mental health crisis in America. Broad mental illness screening of babies is an outrageous overreaching intrusion into children's personal thoughts, behaviors and emotions, and it needs to be stopped.

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Dangers of Universal Mental Health Screening -- DVD
NOW AVAILABLE

Purchase a DVD live PowerPoint presentation by Karen R. Effrem, MD, pediatrician, education researcher, and Board member of EdWatch, This 45-minute backgrounder is perfect for understanding how universal mental health screening, beginning at infancy, is being implemented in your own state and what federal laws and policies are driving it. This DVD will provide you with the perfect tools for educating your state, community, and legislature about the dangers our children face as mental health "systems" are being established across the nation. 

EdWatch professionally videotaped Dr. Karen Effrem's March presentation, "The Dangers of Universal Mental Health Screening." Legislators. candidates for public office, school board members, and community leaders need to understand the enormity of the dangers of this "womb to tomb system" that is making great inroads into the most sacred areas of our personal family lives. With this DVD, they can hear it for themselves! Many states are already using this DVD as an empowering tool. Included is a brief 7-minute introduction, useful for testimony in your own state.

$15.00, plus $2.00 shipping and handling. Also included is a seven-minute preview intended for video legislative testimony.

Dr. Effrem's medical degree is from Johns Hopkins University, and her pediatric training is from the University of Minnesota. She has provided testimony for Congress, as well as in-depth analysis of numerous pieces of major federal education, health, and early childhood legislation for congressional staff and many organizations. Dr. Effrem serves on the boards of four national organizations: EdWatch, the Alliance for Human Research Protection, the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, and the National Physicians Center.  She has spoken at numerous state and national conferences. She has been interviewed by or quoted in Wall Street Journal, WorldNetDaily, NewsMax, newspapers, and radio and television stations across the country.   

The Dangers of Universal Mental Heath Screening I(DVD)
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