One Life Radio
Suzanne Burdick, Ph. D., Senior Reporter for Children’s Health Defense - Schools Are Pushing Mental Health Screenings, Research Shows It Does More Harm Than Good - Ep. 3157
Join Dr. Suzanne Burdick and Bernadette Fiaschetti as they discuss this extremely important topic facing our nation’s children and their mental health. Mental health screenings are common practice now in nearly one-third of all schools in the U.S. and that number is increasing as more states are working hard to pass mental health screening mandates. You must question why, and who’s behind it? Suzanne Burdick, Ph.D., is a senior reporter for The Defender, the News and Views website. She has a M.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Since joining the Defender in May 2022, Suzanne has written over 600 articles on topics ranging from mental health screenings and the overprescription of psychiatric drugs for US youth, electromagnetic radiation, chemical, pesticides and vaccines, censorship, surveillance and agency capture. An increasing number of children are likely to face mental health screenings when they return to school this fall. But experts warned those screenings pose more risk than benefit - and urged parents to opt out their child. “While early identification sounds responsible, in practice it risks doing more harm than good,” Gretchen Watson, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and researcher told the Defender. Watson is one of the foremost authorities in the U.S. on the overmedicalization of children with psychiatric drugs. She is also the author of the forthcoming book, The Prescription Affliction: Why We Overmedicate Young Minds with Psychiatric Drugs - and How to Stop It.” (Pre-order on Amazon.) The forms may be buried in back-to-school packets. And they may portray mental health screening using language crafted to make parents who decline screening seem uncooperative, Watson said. The following are some of the questions asked to children as young as 8 years old. In the past few weeks, have you wished you were dead? Have you felt that you or your family would be better off if you were dead? Have you been habing thought about killing yourself? Have you ever tried to kill yourself? Are you having thoughts of killing yourself right now? How ofter have you felt overwhelmed in the past month? Are you sad much of the time? Some screening tools even ask children how often they have felt that they have something important to contribute to society, and what strategies they have found helpful in managing their mental health. Watson Said: Now, I ask, how would you have answered those questions at 8? At 13? As a K-12 student, I was definitely not think about my contribution to society or managing my mental health. Were you?” Learn more about Dr. Suzanne Burdick and the Children’s Health Defense at children’s health defense.org
