The American Academy of Pediatrics
and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend routine mental health checkups for all adolescents; medical
professionals, including pediatricians, family physicians and pediatric nurse
practitioners, are in a unique position to screen for depression and other
mental illnesses among their teen patients as part of their routine medical
care. Providing mental health checkups in medical
settings strengthens the idea that mental and physical health are equal
contributors to a young person’s overall health and development.
New Assistance for Primary Care Medscape Provides First Hand Account of Mental Health Checkups: “Identifying Adolescent Mental Illness Early through Routine Mental Health Screening” examines the need for risk assessment in adolescent health care and insights from a practitioner.
Providers’ Role in Preventing Suicide:The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) equips primary care providers with information on how to effectively respond to suicide risk.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Society
for Adolescent Medicine, the American Medical Association and other organizations all support mental health screening as a means of early
identification and prevention.