The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended that all children 8 and over be screened for anxiety disorder even if they don’t have symptoms, but other experts say the tests could lead to a spike in addiction to medications.
The independent panel, which works to make evidence-based recommendations for disease prevention in the U.S., believes that prescreening for anxiety, depression and suicide risk could improve symptoms and outcomes and reduce deaths.
The task force recommends screening children 12 and older for depression and those ages 8 and older for anxiety in its bulletin released on Tuesday, Oct. 11.
“The Task Force reviewed the evidence on screening for anxiety, depression, and suicide risk to provide primary care professionals with guidance on how they can help support the mental health of children and adolescents,” task force member Martha Kubik said. “Fortunately, screening older children for anxiety and depression can identify these conditions so children and teens can receive the care that they need.”
Reports show that depression and anxiety doubled among youth within the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. An April study by the National Institutes of Health found an increase in suicide caused by the pandemic. Suicide is the third-leading cause of death among young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and youth and young adults account for 14 percent of the nation’s suicides. It is the second-leading cause of death among 10 to 14-year-olds, the CDC reports.
Anxiety is considered an excessive form of fear and worry. Depression can negatively impact how a person thinks or feels. The conditions can increase the risk of suicide, studies show. The CDC reports that 8 percent of children 3 to 17 suffer from anxiety. However, some experts said the screenings open up the potential of overmedicating children.
The most popular anti-anxiety medicines are benzodiazepines such as Valium, Xanax and Klonopin. Valium and Xanax are already popular among young people and youth as recreational drugs. According to the National Library of Medicine, misuse accounted for 17.2 percent of benzodiazepine use. Some experts fear new benzodiazepine prescriptions could spur another prescription drug crisis.
“In the United States, when the Joint Commission mandated that all doctors screen all patients for pain, even when patients did not come in for pain complaints or demonstrate physical stigmata of being in pain, the result was increased opioid prescribing, contributing to our current opioid epidemic,” Dr. Anna Lembke, chief of the Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic at Stanford University, said.
Xanax is popular because it gives users a euphoric feeling, but it also leads to memory loss and could result in death. Valium has longer-lasting euphoric effects than other benzodiazepines and is a strong sedative. It can lead to overdose if mixed with alcohol or other drugs. A person could become dependent on anti-anxiety medication within weeks, experts say.
Last month, the task force recommended that all adults aged 18 to 65, or at least 200 million Americans, also be screened for anxiety and depression. The panel said there is not enough evidence to recommend screenings for children 7 and under. Reports show that 40 million Americans live with anxiety each year.
Dr. Jonathan Shedler, a psychiatry professor at the University of California, told Fox News last month the tests should be specifically conducted by doctors trained in the psychology field.
“This kind of screening is going to diagnose huge numbers of people with a disorder and a good number of them are going to end up on a lifelong path of one medication and one treatment after another,” Shedler said.
However, the panel said the screenings are not meant to diagnose children with the conditions but to identify those struggling with mental health. Pediatricians would not be required to follow the guidelines but could do so based on group recommendations. It is unclear if parents would be able to opt out of the screenings for their children, but most state laws require parental consent for medical decisions up to a certain age.
Signs of anxiety and depression in children include prolonged feelings of hopelessness, refusal to socialize or participate in school events and recurring stomachaches or headaches.
“Our hope is that by putting these recommendations forward, that they will help to really bring awareness to the need for greater access to evidence-based mental health care for children and adolescents,” task force member Lori Pbert said.
