DECEMBER 2007
MY GOD WHAT ARE THEY
DOING TO THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN?
*WHY DO YOU THINK IT IS CALLED
"DOPE?" *
* **/*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lethargic, depressed, or withdrawn on stimulants.*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
.*
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