Healthy Skepticism Library item: 8077

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Publication type: news

Moore S.
First-time mental-health screening identifies need
The Press Republican 2007 Jan 28
http://www.pressrepublican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070128/NEWS/701280329/1001/NEWS07

Full text:

PLATTSBURGH – The first local teen mental-health screening resulted in almost half the participants – 20 out of 46 – being referred for intervention of some kind.

Only seven of those Plattsburgh High School sophomores had seen professionals for the issues the screening revealed, said Mary Anne Cox, who coordinated the Columbia TeenScreen project for National Alliance on Mental Illness: Champlain Valley (NAMI).

“What that’s telling me,” she said, “is there are kids who are anxious and depressed, (and) no one was aware that they were having problems.”

STIGMA REVEALED
Among them, Cox said, was one suicide attempt that had never been reported to anyone – the student hadn’t had any mental-health intervention.

Five others had also tried to end their lives by suicide, she reported.

A growing incidence of childhood mental illness, along with an increased number of suicides by teens and young adults over the past few years, prompted the pilot screening, which is mostly funded by Eastern Adirondack Health Care Network and is a project of NAMI and many other agencies.

These first results, while not a large sampling, confirm the need for widespread evaluation, Adelman said. As well, she said emphatically, they reveal the barrier that stigma puts up between a potentially fatal disease and the treatment that can save a child’s life.

“We never realized how big the wall was until we did the screening,” she said.

Parents of 185 sophomores returned only 92 consent forms, even though Cox distributed them both in school and mailed second copies to those families who did not return the first ones.

More significant, she and Adelman said, was that of the 92 that did come in, 47 parents chose not to give consent.

They had expected participation from about half the class.

ISSUES IDENTIFIED
The primary goal of the screening, designed by Columbia University and widely used throughout the country, was to identify indicators of anxiety, depression and possible suicide.

Among the 45 participants, seven tested positive for generalized anxiety, with the same number doing so for depression.

Seven students admitted to thoughts of suicide.

Other results revealed students afflicted with social phobias and others with panic or obsessive/compulsive issues.

Some students tested positive for more than one indicator, Cox said.

IMMEDIATE EVALUATION
Students who did test positive for any issue included in the computer screening were immediately evaluated further by Cox, who is a licensed clinical social worker, or another mental-health professional.

A few problems had quick resolution.

One student’s depression was related to bullying by other students, a situation the school was able to address.

Another teen had been on the verge of tangling with the law due to behaviors the screening identified as related to emotional problems. Now, he would get help, Cox said.

Three tests turned out to be false positives.

AND THEN …
Except for the students already in treatment, all the others received referrals for further evaluation.

Among them, it was suggested six teens see in-school counselors and at least four others seek a higher level of treatment.

Parents of one teen didn’t want to follow up, Cox said. And some adopted an attitude of “wait and see.”

She encourages otherwise.

“If you don’t take your child (for evaluation) and there is a problem, you’re running a risk of things getting much worse and it getting more difficult to treat,” she said. “You have nothing to lose by getting your kid evaluated.”

JUST A START
The screening just taps at the door of mental-health awareness regarding young people, Cox said, especially with the low participation rate.

Columbia TeenScreen doesn’t cover all the bases, she emphasized.

“It doesn’t ask specifically about bulimia, anorexia, self-mutilation.”

ANOTHER ROUND
In the spring, PHS eighth-graders will have the opportunity to take part, with the pilot program continuing next school year with the same two populations.

NAMI hoped to expand to other schools for 2007-08 but has found the screening is more labor intensive than anticipated and needs to iron out funding for that extra work.

Cox hopes the results of the sophomore screening and the education that went with it will increase participation in the next round.

A productive outcome of the first session is increased awareness by school staff, she said.

And the students themselves, for the most part, found the screening no big deal.

A few felt the personal questions were a bit uncomfortable, Cox said.

“Mostly it was positive, ranging from OK to good to thought provoking.”

One student wrote, “It was something that made me feel a little better because I was thinking of what has been going on and was able to express myself and my feelings without getting in trouble.”

CHECKING IN
“I would say the results suggest that we really have to pay attention to kids’ emotional well-being as well as their physical well-being,” Cox said, “and ask them from time to time about it.”

That’s how she left it with the students.

“If you’re having problems, we want to make sure you know help is available to you,” she told them. “You don’t have to be alone.”