MP>JK>My daughter adopted a girl who has had a recognized seizure disorder
MP>JK>for some years.  The local school keeps trying to play doctor and
MP>JK>insist that she be given Ritalin.  They even have some test they say
MP>JK>will show the need for this drug.
MP>Schools should not diagnose. They should teach.
Our schools aren't doing a decent job of either one these days,
according to what I see on TV.  We need to overhaul the entire school
system.
MP>JK>For those who give a damn, the following: MP>JK>"DEA Press
Release", October 20, 1995 on Methylphenidate (Ritalin) at
MP>JK>http:://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/pressrel/pr951020.htm.
MP>Note: this report is political, and not medical.
I'd say that is false.  It warns againsts the perils of using that drug
from a federal agency that is concerned with drug addiction, among other
things.  Many high school students are abusing Ritalin, the new drug of
choice for them.
MP>JK>"Abuse of MPH can lead to marked tolerance and severe psychic
MP>JK>dependence."
MP>Proper use of MPH can lead to a successful life.
In very few cases.  The long term effects of that drug are just
beginning to be known to be very harmful.  I would not want any child I
know to be on it without the blessing of the neurologists associated
with the University of Washington.
And, it was one of those who said that my grandaughter should not have
the Ritalin.
MP>JK>"MPH is abused by diverse segments of the population, from health
MP>JK>care professions and children to street addicts."
MP>Ditto.
MP>JK>"In 1994, a national high school survey (Monitoring the Future)
MP>JK>indicated that more seniors in the U.S. abuse Ritalin than are
MP>JK>prescribed Ritalin legitimately."
MP>Interesting study. It had an accuracy rating of +/- 20%.
MP>JK>"The U.S. manufactures and consumes 5-times more MPH than the rest of
MP>JK>the world combined."
MP>So what? Perhaps we in the US knows what we are doing and we are
MP>properly treating our citizens.
I doubt that very much.  We also have the lowest SAT scores of any so
called civilized nation which proves that drugging kids won't make them
learn any better in school.
MP>JK>"Every indicator available, including scientific abuse liability
MP>JK>studies, actual abuse, paucity of scientific studies on possible
MP>JK>adverse effects associated with long=term use of stimulants,
MP>JK>divergent prescribing practices of U.S. physicians, and lack of
MP>JK>concurrent medical treatment and follow-up, urge greater caution
and MP>JK>more restrictive use of MPH."
Why is a Federal agency coming out against the abuse of this drug?
Could it be that there is a very good reason, that it has been
overprescribed just as every other "miracle" cure has been in the past
few years?.
MP>JK>"The Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, Vol 10(2) 1995, pp.
MP>JK>55-72,   "The Hazards of Treating 'Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity
MP>JK>Disorder" with Methylphenidate (Ritalin" by Peter R. Breggin, M.D.,
MP>JK>and Ginger Ross Breggin.  http://www.breggin.com/methylphen.html
MP>Breggin claims that ADHD does not exist. His wife is a Scientologist.
MP>Hardly objective sources.
Since there is no change on the P.E.T. scans of those who are diagnosed
with this condition, I would tend to believe that this is so.  That
there is no genetic basis for ADD or ADHD and that those who are
discriminated against because they have this need help.  The kind of
help that doesn't just want to give them a pill and forget about their
needs.
 MP>JK>"Few mental health professionals can recite the American
Psychiatric MP>JK>Association diagnostic criteria as delineated in the
Diagnostic and MP>JK>Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV)
(American MP>JK>Psychiatric Association, 1994), even for the diagnoses
they routinely MP>JK>use.  But the diagnostic standards are important in
setting clinical MP>JK>and research trends.  Their existence creates a
strong, if MP>JK>potentially misleading, impression of validity for
psychiatric MP>JK>diagnosing in general, as well as for the individual
diagnostic MP>JK>categories.  The prescription of medication to
children, for example, MP>JK>is largely justified on the basis of these
diagnoses.
Precious damn few "mental health professionals" around here know
anything about how the human brain actually does work.  Some of them are
attending seminars from the Cortext group and learning.  Others are
still blissfully ignorant of why the human immune system acts up and the
consequences on human behavior.
And, they would not know a remedial diet if it were fed to them.
MP>JK>The existence of the diagnoses also influences how millions of
MP>JK>parents and teachers view the children in their care.  Most
teachers MP>JK>and many parents of young people have heard of
"hyperactivity" and, MP>JK>more specifically,
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). MP>JK>Many non-mental
health professionals believe they can diagnose it."
MP>So, they are wrong.
So is the school counselor who cannot tell the difference between a
diagnosed seizure disorder and ADD or ADHD.  And as such, has no
business telling any parent what to do with their child.  Far as I know,
this idiot does not have prescriptive powers.  Which is probably a very
good thing.
MP>JK>WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THERE ARE TOO MANY KIDS BEING WRONGLY
LABELED MP>JK>TODAY IN THIS NATION AND STUFFED FULL OF DRUGS DUE TO BOTH
LOUSY MP>JK>MENTAL HEALTH WORKERS AND EQUALLY LOUSY SCHOOLS!!!!
In comparison to the same genetic material in other nations, ours are
being stuffed full of pills and theirs are being given decent schools.
We have no idea at all what would happen if our public school used the
Montisori method of teaching math to a child who can relate instantly to
me holding up fingers and who is having problems dealing with the same
work on paper.
It isnt the child who is at fault, it is our lousy school system.  And
because she cannot learn from the methods they use, it is HER fault, not
theirs in their eyes.
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