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Article: COMPUTER PROGRAM MAY HELP SAVE LIVES LOCAL MENTAL-HEALTH PROFESSIONALS NOW TURN TO TEEN-SCREEN.(LOCAL)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- March 30, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: ELIZABETH SIMPSON THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
NORFOLK -- The question is about as personal as you can get.
Have you ever thought about suicide?
But the interviewer is nonchalant, no matter the response. In fact, it's a computer doing the asking in a quiet corner of The Norfolk Assessment Center. A 10-minute computer program here screens teens for mental-health problems by asking questions about self-esteem, drug and alcohol use, depression, suicidal thoughts.
The idea is to catch mental-health problems in children and link the youngsters with services before those problems become critical. About 6 percent of 9- to 17-year-olds suffer ...