From the February 2001 Idaho Observer:

State sanctioned surveillance program will identify behavioral "red flags" in children, treat them with psychotropic drugs

by Ingri Cassel

This nation is in the midst of a mental health crisis. It is often reported that 50 million Americans suffer from some form of mental illness. Of these, five percent suffer a severe mental illness such as manic depression, schizophrenia or obsessive/compulsive disorder. The U.S. reportedly consumes more mood altering prescription drugs than the rest of the world combined. The trend is equally apparent in Australia. A January 31, 2001 press release reported that doctors are currently writing 500 prescriptions for anti-depressants for every 1,000 Australians over the age of 15. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that a third more anti-depression prescriptions were written in 1999 than in 1996.

Since the North Idaho Chapter of Vaccination Liberation joined the Kootenai Alliance for Children and Families in October 1999, I have made it a priority to attend their monthly meetings. At their January 12, 2001 meeting, the guest speaker was Director Anne Kirkwood of Red Flags Idaho, a school-based program to help parents, educators and teens recognize the signs and symptoms of mental illness in adolescents.

According to its literature, Red Flags Idaho is, "A project of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Idaho Chapter & Idaho State University's Institute of Rural Health" and is "funded by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare."

To preface her discussion in support of state-directed mental health surveillance programs, Kirkwood shared the following figures:

* Although they estimate that 1 in 10 adolescents have some form of mental illness, currently 1 in 5 youth nationwide are enrolled in some form of mental health treatment.

* 5,000 children nationwide succeed in committing suicide annually. Idaho ranks fifth in the nation in the number of teenage suicides.

* 8 to 12 percent of adolescents are affected with mood disorders such as depression. 80 percent of "clinically" depressed children are undiagnosed and, therefore, not being treated for their disorder.

Kirkwood admitted that she is bi-polar and was not diagnosed with this disorder until she was 42. She shared that these mental disorders are organic in nature. We viewed pictures from the UCLA School of Medicine using PET (positron emission tomography) scans to prove her point. These pictures of the brain show normal brain metabolism versus those with clinical depression or obsessive/compulsive disorder. She further stated that current treatment methods for these mental disorders are 80 percent successful.

When asked what treatment methods are used to achieve this success--orthomolecular nutrition, psychotherapy, detoxification diets or drug therapy -- Kirkwood responded briefly saying, "This is the medical model."

In other words, we are talking about the use of psychotropic drugs as a measure of successful treatment. State-sanctioned treatment involves masking the symptoms; not reversing the condition.

At a Red Flags training session for Bonner County educators in Sandpoint January 19, 2001, Vaccination Liberation member Mary delaFuente asked Kirkwood if there have been any mental disorders diagnosed among unvaccinated children. Kirkwood's reply was that she was not aware of any such studies, the assumption being that most everyone is vaccinated. Mary delaFuente continued by sharing with the educators present her current research into the history of vaccinations and the fact that the first significant number of cases of mental illness were reported after a smallpox erradication program mandating the use of the smallpox vaccine. She briefly explained how there has been a lot of research that shows how vaccines given to small children can have damaging effects on the developing brain and nervous system.

After watching a video about "Claire," a teenager who has depression and manages her depression with an SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor), we were treated to a live teenager from Post Falls, Idaho. Amy, 16, has been diagnosed with bi-polar, depression and borderline schizophrenia. She shared her entire story with honesty and confidence. The audience was clearly enamored with her presentation. She attends New Vision, a school of 65 teenagers with learning challenges. She tells us that 97 percent of the kids take "illegal" drugs on a daily basis. However, she supports the use of the other kids sticking to their "meds" and taking responsibility for their lives. She stressed the importance of feeling comfortable with her disorder and dealing appropriately with it.

When asked about her diet, she admitted to being a typical, fairly picky teenage eater. She likes to eat at McDonald's for lunch and enjoys drinking Diet Sprite on a daily basis. Fresh raw vegetables and fruits were not included in her daily diet. She mentioned that she struggles with her weight--a clear sign of hormone and thyroid imbalance that research has shown to be one of the many damaging effects of vaccines as well as aspartame and fluorides.

Amy's mother happens to be a microbiologist with the Panhandle Health District so we can make a safe assumption that she has received all her vaccines according to the CDC's recommended schedule.

In the January 25, 2001 edition of The Inlander, a Spokane-based free newspaper, an article entitled "Nutrition Deficit Disorder" addressed the issue of ADHD in our schools. Rather than considering Ritalin and other amphetamine based drugs as a solution to this problem, the article recounts the successful application of Mannatech's concentrated fruit and vegetable supplements to school children through their Results Project.

ADHD is not the only mental disorder that responds to nutrition. John Hammel, president of International Advocates for Health Freedom, recounted his story of being locked up in a mental institution with schizophrenia and being rescued by friends and relatives through orthomolecular nutrition. (See the Cry of the Invisible, The Idaho Observer, January, 2001).

So now that the problem was created through vaccines, fluoride, aspartame and our toxin-laden and nutritionally deficient diet, the reaction has occurred --an epidemic of mental disorders. The solution offered by the state through Red Flags Idaho is to teach parents and educators how to identify adolescents with various mental disorders and then develop a referral system for treatment with psychotropic drugs.

My concern as a parent is that not only are other treatment options not being considered but drug therapy may be enforced for teenagers being diagnosed with a mental disorder. A precedent was set with Idaho Code 39-3801 in which parents consent for medical treatment for minors 14 years or older is waived when it has been determined that the child is suffering from an infectious, contagious or communicable disease. The state only considers allopathic therapies as viable treatment options.

When you consider that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher has declared mental illness a national health crisis, it is time to pay attention. He has drawn the connection between Healthy People 2010, the World Health Organization, and mental health:

"Every child should be given the opportunity for a healthy start... No priority yet has generated as much interest and enthusiasm as this one on mental health...our efforts will be focused on maintaining a system of global health surveillance..."

Is Red Flags Idaho the first step towards mental health surveillance? Since the state has been successful in establishing a vaccine tracking registry (IRIS - Immunization Reminder Information System), can we assume that the direction of mental health in Idaho will go the same way as compulsory vaccinations for schol attendance? The infrastructure for this is being established (see Idaho Code 39-3123 to 39-3139) that pertains to Regional Mental Health Services.

Red Flags Idaho
Boise, Idaho
1-866-572-9940

National Alliance for the Mentally Ill
Arlington, VA
1-703-524-7600
http://www.nami.org/youth

National Mental Health Association
Alexandria, VA
1-703-684-7722
http://www.nmha.org

Books of interest:

Behavioral Problems in Childhood: The Link to Vaccination, by Viera Scheibner, PhD;

Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? by Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D;

Vaccination, Social Violence, and Criminality: The Medical Assault on the American Brain, by Harris L. Coulter, PhD.