My daughter adopted a girl who has had a recognized seizure disorder for
some years.  The local school keeps trying to play doctor and insist
that she be given Ritalin.  They even have some test they say will show
the need for this drug.
For those who give a damn, the following:
"DEA Press Release", October 20, 1995 on Methylphenidate (Ritalin) at
http:://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/pressrel/pr951020.htm.
"Abuse of MPH can lead to marked tolerance and severe psychic
dependence."
"MPH is abused by diverse segments of the population, from health care
professions and children to street addicts."
"In 1994, a national high school survey (Monitoring the Future)
indicated that more seniors in the U.S. abuse Ritalin than are
prescribed Ritalin legitimately."
"The U.S. manufactures and consumes 5-times more MPH than the rest of
the world combined."
"Every indicator available, including scientific abuse liability
studies, actual abuse, paucity of scientific studies on possible adverse
effects associated with long=term use of stimulants, divergent
prescribing practices of U.S. physicians, and lack of concurrent medical
treatment and follow-up, urge greater caution and more restrictive use
of MPH."
"The Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, Vol 10(2) 1995, pp.
55-72,   "The Hazards of Treating 'Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder" with Methylphenidate (Ritalin" by Peter R. Breggin, M.D., and
Ginger Ross Breggin.  http://www.breggin.com/methylphen.html
"Few mental health professionals can recite the American Psychiatric
Association diagnostic criteria as delineated in the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV) (American Psychiatric
Association, 1994), even for the diagnoses they routinely use.  But the
diagnostic standards are important in setting clinical and research
trends.  Their existence creates a strong, if potentially misleading,
impression of validity for psychiatric diagnosing in general, as well as
for the individual diagnostic categories.  The prescription of
medication to children, for example, is largely justified on the basis
of these diagnoses.
The existence of the diagnoses also influences how millions of parents
and teachers view the children in their care.  Most teachers and many
parents of young people have heard of "hyperactivity" and, more
specifically, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).  Many
non-mental health professionals believe they can diagnose it."
WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY KIDS BEING WRONGLY LABELED
TODAY IN THIS NATION AND STUFFED FULL OF DRUGS DUE TO BOTH LOUSY MENTAL
HEALTH WORKERS AND EQUALLY LOUSY SCHOOLS!!!!
Breggin further states:  "In my clinical experience, most so-called ADHD
children are not receiving sufficient attention from their fathers who
are separated from the family, too preoccupied with work and other
things, or otherwise impaired in their ability to parent.  In many cases
the appropriate diagnosis is Dad Attention Deficit Disorder.
The "cure" for these children is more rational and loving attention from
their dads.  Young people are nowadays so hungry for the attention of a
father that it can come from any male adult.  Seemingly impulsive,
hostile groups of children will calm down when a caring, relaxed, and
firm adult male is around.
At other times, the so-called disorder should be called TADD: Teacher
Attention Deficit Disorder.  Due more to problems in our educational
system that to the teachers themselves, few students get the
individualized educational programs that they need.
The past 25 years has led to a phenomenon almost unique in history.
Methodologically rigorous research...indicates tht ADD (Attention
Deficit Disorder) and hyperactivity as "syndromes" simply do not exist.
We have invented a disease, given it medical sanction, and now must
disown it.  The major question is how we go about destroying the monster
we have created.  It is not easy to do this and still save face.
A study led by NIMH's Alan Zametkin (Zametkin et al., 1990) received a
great deal of publicity for finding increased brain metabolism in
positron emission tomography (PET scans) of adults with a history of
ADHD in childhood.  However, when the sexes were compared separately,
there was NO STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE between the controls
and ADHD adults.
Since ADHD is not a disorder but a manifestation of conflict, we doubt
that a biological cause will ever be found.
(Quotes from Goldin (1991):
"Attempts to define a biological basis for ADHD have been consistently
unsuccessful.  The neuroanatomy of the brain, as demonstrated by
neuroimaging studies, is normal.  No neuropathologic substrate has been
demonstrated..." (p. 36)
Meanwhile, the empahsis on possible genetic and biological causes of
upset behaviors in children obscures te growing body of research
confirming their psychosocial origins (reviewed in Green, 1989; Breggin,
1992).
Contemporary expers AGREE THAT METHYLPHENIDATE AFFECTS ALL CHILDREN in
the same way and is in no way specific for children diagnosed ADHD.
Golden (1991) observes, "...the response to the drug cannot be used to
validate the diagnosis.  Normal boys as well as those with ADHD show
similar changes when given a single dose of a psychostimulant" (p.37)
Within an hour after taking a single dose of a stimulant drug, any child
tends to become more obedient, more narrow in focus, more willing to
concentrate on humdrum tasks and instructions.  Parents in conflict with
a little boy can hand him a pill, knowing he'll soon be more docile.
Parents are not told that methylphenidate, as a stimulant, can cause the
very disorders it is supposed to cure-inattention, hyperactivity, and
aggression.  When the child becomes worse when taking the medication, he
or she is likely to be given higher doses of the drug, or an even
stronger medication, such as the neuoleptics thioridazine (Mellaril) or
haloperidol (Haldol).  This can result in a vicious circle of increasing
drug toxicity.
....one study has found brain shrinkage in adults labled ADHD who have
been taking methylphenidate for years (Nashrallah et al., 1986).
Finally, parents are not told by their doctor that there are almost
guaranteed non-drug methods to improve the conduct of nearly all so
called DBD children-through more intersting, engaging schools and
through more rationally managed, loving family relationships.
The above are just some of the excerps from 14 pages I downloaded.
"Vital Information About Ritalin, Attention
Deficit-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and the Politics Behind the
ADHD/Ritalin Movement", summarized from "Talking Back to Ritalin" by
Peter R. Breggin, M.D.  Http://www.breggin.com/ritalinbkexcerpt.html
"Several million children are being treated with Ritalin and other
stimulants on the grounds that they have attention deficit-hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) and suffer from inattiention, hyperactivity, or
impulsivity.
The number of children being drugged has esculated several-fold in the
last few years.
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