USPSTF recommends depression screening for all adults....

Here's the test -- with the score sheet.

http://www.integration.samhsa.gov/images/res/PHQ - Questions.pdf

IMHO you'd have to be pretty far over the edge to check even a "1" for any of the questions. There's no choice for "once or twice" -- it's for a two week period, and the choices jump from "not at all" to "several days." To me, "several" means generally more than three and fewer than ten, so if my real answer to one of the questions is "once," I can't answer. So which one am I going to pick? Well, knowing they're gunning for my guns, I'm going straight down the zero column, and have a nice day, Doctor.

[Edit]Let me rephrase that:

"One" = one
"Two" = two ("a couple")
"A few" = three to five
"Several" = six to ten
"Many" = more than ten
 
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Cheer up ! Think of all the unsung social workers who will at last be recognized for their yeoman work in public safety. Did I mention they will probably get paid a lot of money for doing this?

They could have demeaning jobs working in asylums dealing with the criminally insane, but this kind of proactive approach to public mental health is going to keep them mainstream and appreciated.

:D
 
It seems pretty rigged to me. Not to mention that it appears to be developed by one of the largest anti-depression drug companies in the world. No conflict there I'm sure.:D:D:D:D:D
 
The USPSTF recommends screening in all adults regardless of risk factors
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Just what kind of recommendation did you expect from people who's job is to find ways to better prevent things??? OF COURSE They are going to recommend screening / testing of everyone, for everything. It is what they were created to do.

SO, ok, based on your answers to loaded questions. they decide you are depressed. NOW WHAT? (concerning gun rights, or even concerning your legal right to refuse treatment?????)
 
Unfortunately, some of the questions fail to take into account other factors that might cause the symptoms. For example, I could probably score a 1 or 2 on questions 3, 4, 5, and 7 not because I'm depressed, but because I've been working night shift for the last four months (giving me insomnia) and I've been fighting a particularly nasty cold.
 
44 AMP said:
SO, ok, based on your answers to loaded questions. they decide you are depressed. NOW WHAT? (concerning gun rights, or even concerning your legal right to refuse treatment?????)
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I do mental health assessments for a living. I can only speak from my own experience, but I have never called the FBI to make any sort of NICS report. The only time I have ever had to get the legal system involved in when securing an Emergency Detention, in cases where someone is an immediate threat to themselves or someone else, either due to suicidal thoughts, homicidal thoughts, or severe psychosis. This has to be ordered by an applicant, a licensed doctor, and a judge. This only happens maybe once every 25-40 times I do an assessment, probably less. The legal right to refuse treatment extends until a serious, imminent threat is realized, and I doubt this will change.

kilimanjaro said:
Cheer up ! Think of all the unsung social workers who will at last be recognized for their yeoman work in public safety. Did I mention they will probably get paid a lot of money for doing this?
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You know what you call a social worker who gets paid a lot of money? One who changed careers. If you stay in social work, you don't expect high pay. Most of us do it because we truly enjoy working in the field. There's also a lot of us who are gun guys, so easy on the SW bashing. ;):cool:

TXAZ said:
It seems pretty rigged to me. Not to mention that it appears to be developed by one of the largest anti-depression drug companies in the world. No conflict there I'm sure.
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Webleymkv Unfortunately said:
It's actually a pretty standard assessment, and the scoring is pretty standard compared to others I have seen.

Mental health assessments are not discrete tools. It's a comprehensive look at the person, the stressors, the symptoms, and the environment. Yes, there are certain benchmarks that we look at, but even then the circumstances make a huge difference. It's not a black and white, score this much for this result, type of tool. It's a guide.
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JimmyR I have great respect for your profession and I am sure there are many here that feel the same. The problem is identifying folks who may have some mental health issues while not adequately treating those who are currently suffering from mental illness is a waste of resources. Yes, it may help a few and it certainly will be good for those involved in the manufacturing and distribution of psychotropic drugs, but it will do little to improve national mental health. The potential for abuse, especially by those looking to remove/control guns scares me.
 
The potential for abuse, especially by those looking to remove/control guns scares me
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That was my point exactly. What I see happening is a bill being introduced that requires all physicians to administer this questionnaire based on this recommendation, the results of which will then be a part of an individuals official records. Those records then being made a part of yet another 'list' to be correlated with the NCIS. There was no intent to bash anyone, or assign blame to any profession.
 
1. A physician may be required to administer, but that doesn't mean you have to answer.
2. Everyone is depressed sometimes, and for a whole lot of different reasons.
3. Simply being depressed is not currently and should not be grounds for denying access to firearms. The standard in most places is "danger to one's self or others," which is sufficiently high to subject a person to detention for evaluation and treatment, and possible involuntary detention. That is good enough to seize firearms, especially if the threat is to others, but this does not mean that this should result in a lifetime ban, as current federal law provides. People do get better.
 
Anyone noticed on this "test" copyrighted by Pfizer that "fidgety" is misspelled as "figety?" Very professional...:rolleyes:
 
Really? So if I get winter blues in late December and tend to sleepmore than usual, eat a lot of carbs, and feel tired or slow (assuming I mark off 2s on those), it's enough to qualify me with a major depressive disorder (5 checkmarks) if I answer honestly? How many people don't go through some period in their life where they don't feel some way that would qualify them on this test? I'm far from a mental health expert, but that seems a little odd to me.
 
While I could link to the article, I could not get the test, so I don't know exactly what the questions are...(my computer said security settings prevent download- so either my computer is paranoid, or perhaps it is just too depressed to get the file...:rolleyes:)

I don't need to see the actual questions, however, I know the kind they are, and here is the problem, anything based on a standardized test can be inaccurate, simply because we are NOT standardized individuals.

In some ways it is like the standard for alcohol impairment. They set a numerical limit, and once you hit it, you are legally impaired, no matter whether you are actually physically impaired or not. Likewise, some individuals will be significantly impaired well below the set legal limit.

I have issues with any "diagnosis" based only on arbitrary standards, and I REALLY have a issue with using that for any LEGAL decisions.

Seriously, what is the ultimate risk here, isn't it being deprived of your rights (and property) simply because your lifestyle doesn't meet their standards for what is right and proper??

Am I actually going to be punished for not being "happy enough"???
seems like this might be a possibility....

anybody else here remember when doctors main efforts were fixing broken bones and treating disease, not trying to get us to lead "better, healthier lives"? I do.
 
44 AMP, there are 9 questions with 4 responses. 0 being "Never feel that way", 1 being "a couple days out of the last two weeks", 3 being "ever day/nearly every day".

The questions are things like "little interest or pleasure in doing things", "difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much", "feeling down", "having low energy" and go all the way up to "thoughts you would be better off dead"
 
The questionnaire is to cover the past two weeks. The four possible answer categories are:

Not at all

Several days

More than half the days

Nearly every day​

So ... what happens if you felt a little sad ONE day? Like maybe because you saw a little girl's puppy get run over on your way to work in the morning.

They hit me with this periodically at the VA hospital. I know what they're after -- I've been home from Vietnam for 47 years, but they'd love to diagnose me with PTSD, because that's the hot button these days, and if they can diagnose more cases they can get more money for treating it. And if I get diagnosed as having PTSD, I get reported to NICS.

I don't care how down I might feel on any given day, the answer to all questions is "Not at all."
 
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They hit me with this periodically at the VA hospital. I know what they're after -- I've been home from Vietnam for 47 years, but they'd love to diagnose me with PTSD, because that's the hot button these days, and if they can diagnose more cases they can get more money for treating it. And if I get diagnosed as having PTSD, I get reported to NICS.
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This is ONE of the reasons I have avoided VA medicine in the 4 decades plus since my own active service.

I think the reporting to NICS is a fairly recent thing, but their history of mis and malfeasance of care is long and legendary.

As far as I'm concerned, VA medicine is proof that Muphy was an optimist.

And now, this excellent care model is being recommended to us (we will be forced, later, unless something changes) by our all knowing, caring, infallible government...
(yes Virginia, that is sarcasm...) :rolleyes:
 
I agree with Aquila Blanca. I get this "questionnaire" about twice a year at the VA. I ,too, do not trust their motives. So as "depressed" as I am I just answer with "zero's"! However; do NOT interpret this as mediocre care from the VA. For my true health care needs they perform quite adequately.
 
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