Removing guns, 1 child at a time

Well, it seems Minnesota's largest school district is discussing screening high school students for depression and anxiety in the classroom.

"As part of a state grant to improve mental health services," notes this CBS Minnesota article, "Anoka-Hennepin schools could offer a screening as soon as next fall. Dr. Nita Kumar, a mental-health consultant for the district, said Friday that the idea is to get students to talk about something they may hide from their parents or not even understand what is happening."

To assist in determining the potential for depression, 10th-graders will be given the PHQ9 form, the same form "many doctors' offices provide." The form can be seen here. It asks nine questions about the student's emotional state for which answers can range from "not at all" to "nearly every day." "Over the last 2 weeks," the questionnaire prompts, "how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?" The listed problems include such vague and all-encompassing considerations as: "Little interest or pleasure in doing things." "Feeling tired or having little energy." "Poor appetite or overeating." "Feeling bad about yourself – or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down."

I'm sorry, am I missing something here? We're talking teenagers, the most hormonally fluctuating demographic on the planet. Teens experience depression all the time. They also experience euphoria. In fact, they experience wild mood swings unparalleled at any other time of life. As their bodies adjust to their hormones and they grow into adults, those emotional fluctuations will level out and normalize. Welcome to reality.

This questionnaire is clearly designed to snare everyone. Without exception, every person on earth (especially teens) has experienced these thoughts or emotions at some point, including "in the last two weeks."

Ironically, school itself is a major cause of depression in teens. Peer pressure alone – the constant bullying, the constant need to conform in matters of dress, speech and thought, the sexual pressure – these all combine to send many teens over to "the dark side." (And people wonder why homeschooling has become so popular.)

Please don't misunderstand. I fully realize clinical depression is a serious issue that should be medically addressed. I also realize the intense peer pressure teens experience can send an ordinary kid into a tailspin of depression when they realize they must face bullies and thugs and even disliked teachers every day.

But putting aside the parental concerns of a bunch of strangers meddling in the mental health of our children, I see this kind of screening in a more sinister light.

Schools are apparently setting out to "fix" problems they themselves may cause. OK, whatever. But what happens if these mental-health professions determine a teenager is depressed? What then?

Presumably the teen – we'll call him John – will receive whatever counseling, therapy, or even medication is necessary to overcome the symptoms. That's great. Although that treatment may never have been needed for his simple case of teenaged angst, John will go on to lead an ordinary and productive life. He'll grow into an adult. He'll go to college. He'll get a job. He'll get married. He'll buy a house. And one day, he'll try to buy a firearm since crime has become so rampant in his community.

Nope. Can't do it. Because John has on his medical records a diagnosis of depression from 15 years before, when he was 16.

Crazy talk? Think it can't happen? Well, currently wending its way through the Minnesota Legislature is HL 240, which proposes to do just that.

Is it just me, or does anyone else view this development in schools as a long-term reduction in the number of people qualified to own firearms? The danger comes from the fact that all these mental-health professionals work for the government. Therefore they must represent the government's interests. And it is unquestionably in the best interest of a progressive government to deprive Americans of their Second Amendment rights, a critical step before other amendments can be removed or altered.

Like any other government program, once they get their foot in the door, their agenda will follow. If schools start routinely screening students for depression, the agenda of gun control will follow. More and more students will qualify as "depressed." And if depression isn't a wide enough net to cast, more categories will be added. Everything will be classified as a mental problem if the government deems it convenient. Overeating, shyness, unhappiness, too much happiness, too much faith … anything and everything can be twisted to suit the agenda of politicians hell-bent on disarming the American people.

As if this weren't bad enough, soon physical illnesses may be labeled as mental disorders. Yes, you read that right. There is discussion that something called "Somatic Symptom Disorder" will be added to the American Psychiatric Association's bible of mental disorders, the DSM-5. What this means is anyone's physical illness that is deemed to have a psychological or emotional origin (stress, depression, grief, etc.) will be classified as a mental illness, potentially resulting in, among other things, the loss of one's Second Amendment rights.

So whatever happens, don't report your stress headache to your doctor. Don't get grief counseling. Physical illnesses ranging from gastrointestinal upsets to cancer could mean the government can take away your firearms.

Sound crazy? Sure. But never underestimate what the government will do to remove firearms from the hands of ordinary Americans. It was Voltaire who noted, "It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong." It's getting to the point where your mental stability is questioned if you object to the dismantling of the Constitution.

And this, dear readers, is a very, very dangerous development.

Somehow it comes as no surprise that No. 39 of the "45 Communist Goals for Takeover of America" reads, "Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental-health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals." In short, if you disagree with the government, you're crazy.

Mental health evaluations in public schools are just one more step toward this agenda. The government is removing our firearms, one child at a time.

Media wishing to interview Patrice Lewis, please contact [email protected].