From http://tampatrib.com/News/MGBU8CA6S7E.html

Tears Don't Psych Out Lawmakers
Published: Apr 21, 2005

A couple of famous actors put on quite a performance in Tallahassee this week, pushing legislation that could prevent children from obtaining the mental health care they need.

Kirstie Alley and Kelly Preston gave dramatic testimony before legislative committees Tuesday, with Alley breaking down in tears while decrying the dangers of psychotropic drugs.

Lawmakers gave the histrionics the credibility they deserved. Not much.

Both actors are Scientologists and testified on behalf of a Scientology-backed measure aimed at discouraging parents from seeking mental health counseling for their children. The church has long disputed the effectiveness of psychiatry.

The proposal would prevent a school from referring a student for diagnosis or treatment for a mental disorder without telling the parents that there is no specific medical test for the disorder or that the child's behaviors could be the result of some physical condition.

The measure is a devious attempt to frighten parents from getting their children help. It is appalling that Hillsborough Sen. Victor Crist is sponsoring the Senate version.

Mental health counseling, and sometimes prescribed drugs, can make an enormous difference in depressed children's outlook and their performance in school. That doesn't mean counseling or drugs are always the correct course of action. Parents should be responsible for deciding what is best for their children. But the parents need facts, not antipsychiatry propaganda.

The House Education Committee stripped the bill of its controversial language and endorsed a measure that would simply prohibit schools from denying services to children who refuse psychotropic drugs. This is not objectionable, but there is not a shred of evidence that schools have forced parents to put their children on drugs.

Moreover, a federal law that takes effect this summer will do the same thing and prohibit discrimination against children based on behavioral or psychological problems.

So the state bill, even in its improved form, is unnecessary. Lawmakers should abandon this tainted effort altogether.

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