Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 “ AbleChild strongly opposes Teen Screen. Giving teenagers subjective questionnaires and surveys on suicidal behavior simply does not prevent or stop suicide. This is risky research that lacks scientific merit. Teen Screen is nothing more than the bio-behavioral health industry’s attempt to garner big government funding for useless programs that profitably promote a course of recommended psychotropic drug “treatment” which has been clearly linked to suicide and violent behavior.”

Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning:

Imagine your teenager comes home from school looking depressed. You ask what’s wrong. She says, “Oh, it’s just my social anxiety disorder.”

What?

Yes, she tells you, she has social anxiety disorder. And also obsessive compulsive disorder.

What are you talking about, you ask? Who is telling you this?

by James Torlakson

I flew back to Washington, DC to participate in a protest focused on the often-lethal nature of SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) and other atypical antidepressants, which took place in front of the White House on August 24th, 25th, and 26th. My twenty-one year old daughter, Elizabeth, committed “suicide” as a direct result of her use of the SSRI, Celexa. More than five thousand young people have committed violent suicides induced by their antide- pressants. Though known by those involved in this cause, it is just now reaching the media that the SSRIs have the same fatal effects on many adults of all ages.

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

Gloria Wright
Vice President
glorous002@ablechild.org

 AbleChild, a national parent organization, dedicated to educating the public on informed consent and an individual’s right to refuse psychiatric services, stands with Majority Leader Tom DeLay in support of H.R. 181 – The Parental Consent Act of 2005.

“The federal government should become advocates in strengthening American families and encouraging parental participation in decisions that directly effect their children’s health and overall wellbeing,” said Majority Leader Tom DeLay. “In the wake of the creation of psychiatric labels, every parent should be wary of relinquishing their responsibility to the government to define and assess their child’s mental health status,” he added.

AbleChild has recently been informed that H.R. 181- The Parental Consent Act of 2005, may die in committee and the House of Representatives may not get a chance to vote on this critical informed consent bill.

H.R. 181 prohibits the federal government from being able to fund any universal or mandatory mental health screening programs. According to Michael Cannon and Marie Gryphon of the Cato Institute, “Empowering public schools to ‘play a larger role in mental health care for children’ could do special needs students and their parents more harm than good.”

Without passage of H.R. 181, the federal government will fund universal mental health screening programs and provide the mental health and psychiatric industry open access to America ’s children without the consent of their parents. This will invariably result in an increase in prescribing psychotropic drugs to many of the 56,000,000 children in America ‘s public schools.

On June 29, 2005, the FDA determined the need to add new warnings regarding psychiatric side effects to the drugs used as treatment for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), a highly subjective diagnosis and the subject of much debate within the medical establishment and among the public. The FDA’s recent determination was prompted by reports of hallucinations, suicidal thoughts, and aggressive and psychotic behaviors brought about by the use of these drugs. Ablechild emphatically takes the position that no child should be subjected to the dangers of these drugs, nor to the life-long labels associated with subjective mental disorders without first being provided with full informed parental consent and the right to refuse.

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, “Every indicator available, including scientific abuse liability studies, actual abuse, paucity of scientific studies on possible adverse effects associated with long-term use of stimulants, divergent prescribing practices of U.S. physicians, and lack of concurrent medical treatment and follow-up, urge greater caution and more restrictive use of Methylphenidate.” Methylphenidate, also known as Ritalin, is only one such drug, which is widely prescribed to children labeled ADHD.

To err on the side of caution is prudent, both on the subject of mandating mental health screening programs for children and prescribing drugs. AbleChild and parents nationwide are encouraged by Congressman Tom DeLay’s willingness to stand up for parental rights and the health of children.

Patricia Weathers
President
www.ablechild.org
(845) 677-8115

Sheila Matthews
National Vice President
www.ablechild.org
(203) 966-8419

 Some Connecticut residents call Sullivan’s new proposal just plain wasteful spending, exorbitant plans for throwing Connecticut’s money away without addressing the immediate need for an overhaul in what they deem is a Broken Mental Health system.

Hartford , Connecticut . Lt. Gov. Kevin Sullivan’s recent press release “Sullivan Unveils Mental Health Reform Package” has raised more than a few eyebrows across the state from children right advocates, as well as from victims of mental health abuse. Sullivan proposes to spend a whopping $34 Million on mental health in a one-year period alone. This money would be spent on additional services and programs without addressing the need for reforms in many areas of the current mental health system. This added funding for areas that have not proved themselves successful should be viewed critically and be cause for great public concern.

To give observers an inside view of the current system and its expenditures, they need only look at the many departments offering mental health services to the public.

Currently the State’s Department of Social Services has operating expenses of just under $200 million. This department carries program expenses, many of which are mental health based, of over $3.5 billion per year. The Connecticut Department of Children and Family Services both have operating expenses at over ½ a billion dollars per year. This spending is taking place without any accountability. Lack of accountability is two-fold, comprising of the State’s own failure to hold the department heads, as well as the many vendors of mental health services and programs accountable for justifying the need for the mental health programs/services that they are using and or soliciting. Furthermore the State is failing to hold all those providing mental health programs/services to the highest standards, by not requiring them to provide comprehensive reports demonstrating their success rates.

To spend additional money on any mental health services without seeing a track record for programs and or services already offered within the State should alarm all Connecticut taxpayers.

Ablechild, a national grassroots parent organization, with members in Connecticut advocating for both children and parental rights, had the opportunity to attend and testify at one of Lt. Governor Sullivan’s town hall meetings.

Ablechild was eager to share its concerns regarding the protection of human rights and the critical need for expanding mental health services beyond that of psychiatry, asking for the State to consider advocates and vendors employing non-drug and non-invasive programs/services for parents and children throughout the state. Alarmingly this town hall meeting consisted mostly of current mental health vendors asking for more money. What was obvious was that there was little evidence of success in their current programs with a basic lack of both new ideas and different types of strategies that might turn an obvious failed approach around.

“Lack of accountability is a big part of mental health and is a huge problem right now. The public should be aware and informed of all mental health programs being offered by the State. This would entail a disclosure of whether or not a program or service is successful or not. The fact that we are allowing what is equivalent to frivolous spending on programs that have not been proven successful should not be allowed to continue,” said Ms. Sheila Matthews, National Vice President of Ablechild and a Connecticut resident concerned with informed consent and the right to privacy. Ms. Matthews has advocated in Connecticut on behalf of victims of mental health abuse, many of whom have come to Ablechild for help in regards to mental health services forced upon them by State agencies and vendors receiving state mental health funds.

The question that should be raised from all of this is: When do we say enough is enough? Are we going to allow this ridiculous amount of spending without accountability to continue? Or are we going to put our foot down and hold those responsible, for truly providing us with higher standards? Accountability and honesty is what all citizens and residents of Connecticut should be demanding from the State. Anything less is simply not enough.

To read more on mental health and current abuse within mental health, please go to www.ablechild.org.