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Comment by giantg2 | Hacker News Reader

I would be more concerned the risks associated with over diagnosis, or dredging up problems where there aren't any.

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Haha

My dad had a class with a psychiatrist. One day the psychiatrist came in late, paced back and forth, and told the class that the only reason someone becomes a psychiatrist is to find out what's wrong with themself. Then he walked out. That was the class for that day.

I would also be very troubled of the possibility that mass testing in children would, itself, cause some degree of anxiety. I know I don't enjoy being tested.

I feel this is an overreaction. Nothing wrong with having a quick mental checkup along with your physical.

My point is that taking a physical does not change your physical attributes; being asked "are you nervous?" can't give a proper answer because the question, by itself, changes the outcome. Like the "whatever you do, don't think of a pink elephant" thing.

I'd assume that a mental health screening would be designed to work with children and their caretakers to avoid these scenarios. In any case, this is only an argument for the lower half of kids. They're starting at 8 years old. They aren't toddlers.

If there are enough troubling signs, you look into it a little more. It might be nothing, it might be something to work on.

Doesn't every medical student discover that he's dying from at least 3 fatal diseases?

Testosterone level is inversely correlated with neuroticism. And average testosterone has dropped one standard deviation from 2000 to 2017.

Since nobody is prescribing testosterone for anxiety I'm guessing it isn't as simple as this explanation suggests.

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