The major increase in psychiatric drugs prescribed by psychiatrists has raised some alarm among the screening community. Nathaniel Lehrman expresses his concerns about the overmedication of children as a result of mental health screenings in his article “Mental Health Screenings in Schools Can Harm Children”. He accomplishes this through the use of statistics such as, “[t]he sale of psychiatric medications―antipsychotics and antidepressants―rose from $500 million to $20 billion between 1987 and 2004, a 40-fold increase” (Lehrman). Lehrman uses this quote in the beginning of the article to grab the reader’s attention right away and pull them to his side with statistics about the immense overprescription of psychiatric medications. He follows
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He does this by adding the ending appositive, “which means even more medication sales,” to imply that the drug companies are already exploiting this issue in their favor and screenings will only intensify the artificial need for more medication. In the same way, Phyllis Schlafly conveys her doubts as to the true intentions of the screenings in her article “Government-Sponsored Mental Health Screenings Would Not Benefit Children”. Schlafly emphasises the exploitations of the drug companies and their nefarious plans to earn more money at the expense of others. Schlafly states, “[t]hese funds appear to be part of a larger plan to get more and more people labeled and in the psychiatric system or, as some say, to move children into the psychotherapeutic state.” This quote illustrates Schlafly’s belief that screening for mental health benefits drug companies and mental health professionals …show more content…
Richard Chung believes teens should be screened, but, much like Schlafly, takes an emotional approach to pull the heartstrings of his parent audience in his article, “Should All Teens Be Screened for Depression? Yes: Early Diagnosis Is Crucial for Effective Treatment”. Chung states that opponents of screening are “wary of overdiagnosis and overtreatment,” then addresses the parents directly saying, “[p]arents and providers must be guided by the specific experiences of each teen, not by media messages or overly simplistic conceptualizations of sadness and stress.” By directly calling out the parents, Chung distracts the audience from the opposing viewpoints valid concerns and gains more empathy toward the subject from the reader. Although he does not agree that screening is the main cause of overmedication, Chung does concur that parents and professionals must be cautious when referring children to more extensive assistance and when prescribing medications to them. He believes, as a society, people tend to want their problems to disappear fast and easy, so more and more drugs are administered to teens because, while they have the correct intentions, professionals and parents believe medications are the quickest way to help a child they have deemed depressed or
He does this by adding the ending appositive, “which means even more medication sales,” to imply that the drug companies are already exploiting this issue in their favor and screenings will only intensify the artificial need for more medication. In the same way, Phyllis Schlafly conveys her doubts as to the true intentions of the screenings in her article “Government-Sponsored Mental Health Screenings Would Not Benefit Children”. Schlafly emphasises the exploitations of the drug companies and their nefarious plans to earn more money at the expense of others. Schlafly states, “[t]hese funds appear to be part of a larger plan to get more and more people labeled and in the psychiatric system or, as some say, to move children into the psychotherapeutic state.” This quote illustrates Schlafly’s belief that screening for mental health benefits drug companies and mental health professionals …show more content…
Richard Chung believes teens should be screened, but, much like Schlafly, takes an emotional approach to pull the heartstrings of his parent audience in his article, “Should All Teens Be Screened for Depression? Yes: Early Diagnosis Is Crucial for Effective Treatment”. Chung states that opponents of screening are “wary of overdiagnosis and overtreatment,” then addresses the parents directly saying, “[p]arents and providers must be guided by the specific experiences of each teen, not by media messages or overly simplistic conceptualizations of sadness and stress.” By directly calling out the parents, Chung distracts the audience from the opposing viewpoints valid concerns and gains more empathy toward the subject from the reader. Although he does not agree that screening is the main cause of overmedication, Chung does concur that parents and professionals must be cautious when referring children to more extensive assistance and when prescribing medications to them. He believes, as a society, people tend to want their problems to disappear fast and easy, so more and more drugs are administered to teens because, while they have the correct intentions, professionals and parents believe medications are the quickest way to help a child they have deemed depressed or