101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin Like the Plague [Paperback]

Howard Glasser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2005

This book captures the bigger picture of all that is sacrificed with the pivotal decision to put a child on Ritalin or medications. There are so many physical and psychological side-effects that never get mentioned to the parent who is seeking help or being pressured by the school to do something about their child's behavior or poor performance at school. This book fights for the parent to have full disclosure of the truth. Parents are never told: "Oh by the way, once in a while a child dies simply by taking their prescribed medication, or by the way, children on stimulant medications have twice the future rate of drug abuse, or by the way, 1/3 of all children on these medications develope symptoms of obsessive compulsive behavior within the first year. Most doctors don't tell parents these things because they simply don't know. Most doctors get the majority of their information about these medications from the same pharmaceutical companies that have a tremendous vested interest in selling more and more medications each year. Most doctors can't tell parents the truth about the psychological side effects becuase they have no idea that simply giving children these drugs makes it near impossible for the child to deeply believe in themselves and their own power and resourcefulness but rather the child comes to be reliant on the hoped-for power of the medication. Worse, the message to the child is "neither you, nor your teacher, nor your parents, nor we the doctor can handle your intensity, it scares us and we need to make it go away." Thus starts the diabolical inner war between a child and their life intensity. The very life force that all great people tap into now becomes overwhelming and frightening to this child who then spends a lifetime on the run and unable to enjoy the fruits and beauty of their! intensity. The subtitle of this book is: "Including one great reason why Ritalin is almost always unnecessary." The truth is that the author would still be recommending Ritalin himself if he had not discoved an incredibly simple and reliable way to help convert a child's intensity into their source of greatness. An entire section of this book is devoted to describing this method in detail. The icing on the cake is the "supersize me" collaboration between the author and his physician where Ritalin is prescribed in increasing dosages for 10 days and both the author and his doctor journal the surprising results.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: Nurtured Heart Publications (August 31, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967050766
• ISBN-13: 978-0967050768
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,483,158 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tells you what doctors and teachers DON'T, November 13, 2005

By 

Keenan Dakota (Charlottesville, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin Like the Plague (Paperback)

101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin... is the best book out there on Ritalin (and other drugs prescribed to change kids' behavior). The book is very, very accessible, while at the same time presenting the results of lots and lots of research on the side effects and social effects of putting your child on drugs. Other books on Ritalin are either too dense with statistics and so are hard to read through, or they come across like a one-sided rant and don't have much actual information.
This book explains why doctors, teachers and other child care professionals DON'T KNOW the many damaging effects of Ritalin (etc.) It is hard to believe, but absolutely true that doctors prescribe these drugs without knowing their side effects.
We took our son into a doctor for "Restless Leg Syndrome" and the doctor wrote us a prescription for Paxil. Before getting the prescription filled, we looked up Paxil online. The doctor didn't tell us any of the many, many side effects, or that Paxil is banned for use with kids in lots of counties. YIKES! We tossed out the prescription and did things to work with our son's behavior (he's better now).
101 reasons to avoid Ritalin... also directs you to web sites, research and other books on Ritalin, so you can find out more detailed information. If you are wrestling with the decision to give your child Ritalin you must read this book!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Information is power, November 8, 2006

By 

Reed Book "Red" (DC burbs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin Like the Plague (Paperback)

I am a professional, a therapist and consultant who works with children and their families. I am faced daily with the mother, father who agonizes over what to do when school appears to be pushing for a medication intervention, some doctors are offering one form of medication or another, and they feel if they do not go along - they are dooming their child to academic failure and social isolation. I believe that this book offers information that is not otherwise widely available to parents, who ultimately make the decisons. I feel that after reading this book, parents are in a much more empowered position to make an informed decision and are aware that enviromental factors (including the parents, teachers, school programs) hold many of the answers to working with intense children.

14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A very informative book by an expert on the topic., December 1, 2005

By 

Brandon Hoffman "Brandon Hoffman" (Suffern, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin Like the Plague (Paperback)

Interestingly enough, I dont have ADHD or have a family member who does but do enjoy reading books about pertinent health topics. This book is chock full of information on the topic. I do however feel that some of the reasons were a little too repetitive and that this book could have been shortened. The last part of the book where the author himself experiments with taking ritalin is very interesting and in fact I think they should have started the book off with that experiment rather then ending with it. I like that the author doesnt just complain about the medication given to intense children but rather has a non medical solution that he feels works supported with evidence of school districts that tried the approach with successful results.

Overall the book is good and informative but drags on a little. Since I am not personally invested in ADHD its probably not as enthralling to me as it would be to a parent of a child with the disorder. If you are personally invested in this disorder I highly recommend reading the book.