* **/*Vital Information
About Ritalin,
Attention
Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder and the Politics Behind
the ADHD/Ritalin
Movement*/***
* * **/Talking Back to Ritalin/ by
Peter R. Breggin, M.D.
is published by Common
Courage Press, P.O. Box 702, Monroe,
Maine 04951. Phone:
1-800-497-3207.*
*
*http://www.antipsychiatry.org:80/ritalin.htm
* *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 inattention,
hyperactivity, or impulsivity. The
stimulants include:
Ritalin (methylphenidate), Dexedrine and
DextroStat
(dextroamphetamine or d-amphetamine), Adderall
(d-amphetamine and
amphetamine mixture), Desoxyn and
Gradumet
(methamphetamine), and Cylert (pemoline). Except for
Cylert, all of these
drugs have nearly identical effects and
side effects. Ritalin
and the amphetamines can for most purposes
be considered one type
of drug.*
* *The number of
children being drugged has
escalated several-fold
in the last few years.*
*
*Ritalin and amphetamine have almost identical adverse
effects on the brain,
mind and behavior, including the production
of drug-induced
behavioral disorders, psychosis, mania,
drug abuse, and
addiction.*
* *Ritalin and
amphetamine frequently cause the very
same problems they are
supposed to
treat--inattention,
hyperactivity, and
impulsivity.*
* *A large
percentage of children become robotic,
lethargic, depressed,
or withdrawn on stimulants.*
*
*Ritalin can cause permanent neurological tics
including Tourette's
syndrome.*
* *Ritalin can
retard growth in children by disrupting
the cycles of growth
hormone released by the pituitary
gland.*
* *The recent finding
that Ritalin can cause cancer in
some animals was not
taken seriously enough by the drug company
or the
FDA.*
* *Ritalin routinely
causes gross malfunctions in the brain
of the child. There is
research evidence from a few
controlled scientific
studies that Ritalin can cause shrinkage
(atrophy) or other
permanent physical abnormalities in the
brain.*
* *Withdrawal from
Ritalin can cause emotional
suffering, including
depression, exhaustion, and suicide. This can
make children seem
psychiatrically disturbed and lead mistakenly
to increased doses of
medication.* * *Ritalin is
addictive and can become a gateway drug to
other addictions. It
is a common drug of abuse among children
and
adults.*
* *ADHD and Ritalin
are American and Canadian medical fads.
The U.S. uses 90% of
the world's Ritalin.
CibaGeneva
Pharmaceuticals (also known as Ciba-Geigy Corporation),
a division of
Novartis, is the manufacturer of Ritalin. It
is trying to expand
the Ritalin market to Europe and the rest
of the
world.*
* *Ritalin "works" by
producing malfunctions in the brain
rather than by
improving brain function. This is the /only /way
it
works.*
* *Short-term, Ritalin
suppresses creative, spontaneous
and autonomous
activity in children, making them more docile
and obedient, and more
willing to comply with rote, boring
tasks, such as
classroom school work and
homework.*
* *Short-term,
Ritalin has no positive effect on a
child's psychology or
on academic performance and achievement. This
is confirmed by
innumerable studies and by many
professional reviews
of the literature.*
*
*Longer-term, beyond several weeks, Ritalin has no
positive effects on
any aspect of a child's life.*
* *Labeling children with ADHD and treating them with
Ritalin can keep them
out of the armed services, limit their
future career choices,
and stigmatize them for life. It can
ruin their own self
image, subtly demoralize them, and
discourage them from
reaching their full
potential.*
* *There is no
solid evidence that ADHD is a genuine disorder
or disease of any
kind.*
* *There is a great
deal of research to confirm
that environmental
problems cause ADHD-like
symptoms.*
* *A very small
number of children may suffer ADHD-like
symptoms because of
physical disorders, such as lead poisoning,
drug intoxication,
exhaustion, and head injury. Physical causes
may be more common
among poor communities in the United
States.*
* *There is no proof
of any physical abnormalities in the
brains or bodies of
children who are routinely labeled ADHD. They
do not have known
biochemical imbalances or "crossed
wires."*
* *ADHD is a
controversial diagnosis with little or
no scientific or
medical basis. A parent, teacher, or doctor
can feel in good
company when utterly dismissing the diagnosis
and refusing to apply
it to children.*
* *Ciba
spends millions of dollars to sell parent groups
and doctors on the
idea of using Ritalin. Ciba helps to
support the parent
group, CH.A.D.D., and organized
psychiatry.*
* *The U.S.
Department of Education and the National
Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH) push Ritalin as vigorously as
the manufacturer of
the drug, often in even more glowing
terms than the drug
company could get away with legally.*
*Our society has
institutionalized drug abuse among our children. Worse
yet, we abuse our children with drugs rather than making
the effort to find better ways to meet their needs. In the
long run, we are giving our children a very bad
lesson--that drugs are the answer to emotional problems.
We are encouraging a generation of youngsters to grow up
relying on psychiatric drugs rather than on themselves and
other human resources.*
*The material in this summary
is documented with citations to scientific literature in
/Talking Back to Ritalin/. The book also describes
non-drug approaches to helping children diagnosed ADHD
through identifying and meeting the basic needs of children,
and through improvements in school and family
life.*
* If you want to support efforts to stop the
psychiatric drugging of children, and to receive a
newsletter, we invite you to join the International Center
for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, 4628 Chestnut
Street, Bethesda, MD, 20814. Visit our web site at www.breggin.com <http://www.breggin.com/>.*