The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You [Paperback]

Peter Breggin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2002

Known as the "Ralph Nader of psychiatry," Peter Breggin has been the medical expert in countless civil and criminal cases involving the use or misuse of psychoactive medications. This unusual position has given him unprecedented access to private pharmaceutical research and correspondence files, access that informs this straight-talking guide to the most-prescribed and controversial class of psychoactive medications prescribed for children. From how these drugs work in the brain to documented side and withdrawal effects, The Ritalin Fact Book is up-to-the-minute and easy-to-access. With its suggestions for non-prescriptive ways to treat ADD and ADHD, it is essential reading for every parent whose child is on or who has been recommended psychoactive medication.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Author Peter Breggin doesn't try to hide his opinion: the introduction to The Ritalin Fact Book clearly states, "This book is written from a viewpoint that is critical of stimulant drugs and their prescription for "attention deficit hyperactive disorder." As a medical expert in legal cases against pharmaceutical companies, Breggin has access to information many doctors have never seen, and what he presents is frightening.

After a vivid and harrowing tale of a young man placed on numerous medications that only compounded his problems, Breggin dives into several fairly technical chapters concerning the effects of stimulating drugs on children and how they can actually cause psychiatric disorders. He repeatedly insists that ADHD, which he refers to in quotation marks as "ADHD," can be corrected by improved parenting and teaching styles, and assures readers that a biochemical basis for the disorder is "simply nonsense." For many children this may be true, but the book will be frustrating reading for parents who have been exploring therapy and self-control training for years without positive effects.

While many of Breggin's detailed explanations of chemistry and character are important for navigating the maze of pediatric mental health, his explosively negative style could do as much harm as good. --Jill Lightner

About the Author

Peter R. Breggin, M.D., is the author of a dozen books, including Talking Back to Prozac and The Antidepressant Factbook. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738204501
• ISBN-13: 978-0738204505
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #543,287 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth that many don't want to hear, May 11, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You (Paperback)

After reading the two previous reviews, I had to say a word in defense of Mr. Breggin.

No, Mr. Breggin is not a mainstream practioner. But if you do a little research (try finding Breggin's website) you will find that his credentials are certainly nothing to brush off. This guy is actually pretty phenomenal. He has studied this subject a lot longer and in much greater depth than your average Doctor Schmoe. And if you know anything about psychiatric drugs and the medical field, you will also realize that the average mainstream doctor got all he knows about these drugs from the drug companies themselves. The drug companies are the ones providing most of the education and nearly all of the research that our average family doctors rely on. So you've got to figure that the mainstream may not have a clear and unbiased picture. Add to that the fact that insurance companies are crazy about psychiatric drugs. Why? Because they sure are cheaper than paying a psychologist or counselor! And they are quick, effective and easy to document. Drugs are big money, and parents and teachers love them! (See reviews below).

If you are really genuinely worried about your child's health, then you have got to be aware of the other side of the story regarding ritalin (and other psychiatric drugs). Dr. Breggin isn't the only person out there with a negative view of these drugs. If you look, you will find that this stuff is well backed-up. One of the earlier reviewers called Breggin arrogant, cold, and cruel. The person states with sarcasm:
"Now, let's all go off medication together, have a jump in school failure and expense, increase aggressive and suicidal behavior, fill the ER's with children who ran into traffic. Let's have the child get punished and put down all day again. Let's disrupt all the classes these children attend, as the teachers try to get them down from the window sills."

Do you really have such little faith in our children?? They are people, not monsters.

My question is where were all these kids fifty years ago? In the days before Ritalin? Why weren't they jumping out of windows and running into traffic? Are you going to tell me that our genes have changed? That is highly unlikely. What has changed in the last fify years is not our genetic make-up. Our kids do not have brain disorders. Look at our society and our families. Look at ourselves as parents. And look at the demands being placed on children. I am not saying all these kids are angels, but even being a brat does not qualify as a brain disorder. Dealing with a kid with bad behavior takes work. Dealing with a kid who can't handle sitting at a desk all day long takes some thinking outside of the box. Hyperactivity is sometimes a way that children (and adults) deal with stress and problems they don't know how to handle. Sometimes it is a defense. Pills offer a quick, easy and guilt-free solution, and too many parents are taking advantage of that. When you go into a classroom and know that half of the kids are on ritalin (which is an occurence popping up more and more often around the country), there is no denying this.

Maybe you won't agree with the style in which Breggin writes, but I am glad he is out there. This is a subject that needs more attention.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be a good parent, November 29, 2006

By 

G. D. Rawsthorn (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You (Paperback)

After reading this book you will not be ready to inspire world peace, end world hunger, or even balance your own check book. However, you will be a better parent for taking the time to educate yourself about a critical topic. The easy answer is to cave into an educator's diagnosis that your child is ADHD and get a prescription to dope your child. The educators are motivated to neutralize your child if they pose any teaching challenge. And what doctor won't write prescriptions?

Everything that Dr. Breggin writes will not work for your child. However, traditional doping may not be right for your child either. Be a good parent, do your own research and follow your instincts. In conducting my own research, I found a father who lost his daughter to Ritalin - suicide. I Googled him and found his phone number. During our discussion, his most memorable statement was that he should have followed his instincts and taken her (daughter) off the Ritalin.

None of the expert opinions should replace your parental instincts! Read contradictory pieces to formulate your own position. Without the courage of Dr. Breggin and others like him, we would only get to read the pharmaceutical industries position.

Finally, regarding the input from "A Reader", who is the quack? The commentator refers us to "Quackwatch" to uncover some discrepancies regarding Dr. Breggin. However, what you find is that Dr. Breggin is guilty of his biased opinion. Just as the author of Quackwatch has his own bias. Additional Googling uncovered that the author of Quackwatch (Dr. Barrett) has also had his credibility challenged. As posted on the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation web site, "under a heated cross-examination ... Barrett conceded that he was not a Medical Board Certified psychiatrist because he had failed the certification exam." Maybe "A Reader" should have read a little more!

Read Breggin's books along with the books of other authors. More importantly speak with other parents and learn from their challenges. Also, is your child just like you? Did you need doping? If not, why does your kid? Use a little logic and common sense.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars be prepared, February 20, 2006

By 

Mark Mills (Glen Rose, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You (Paperback)

Dr. Breggin simply dismisses the notion that ADHD, ADD and perhaps autism represent biological states. Instead, he asserts the labels ADD and ADHD are no more than convenient excuses for lazy teachers and parents to commit temporary lobotomies upon their children and/or students. Breggin suggests the ADHD issue can be resolved by simply changing the parent and teacher's behavior . This thesis occupies about 20% of the book.

The other 80% of the book reviews the horrific damage psycho-active drugs potentially cause children. Breggin recounts several cases where Ritalin is given to a normal healthy child who happens to act out at school one day. The drug causes more problems. Before you can say 1, 2, 3; the child is on 5 or 6 psychoactive drugs, displays involuntary ticks, and gets diagnosed with a bipolar disorder or acute early stage schizophrenia. Dr. Breggin saves the day by pulling the child off drugs. and allowing the normal child to reemerge.

Dr. Breggin's logic is hardly compelling, but every parent thinking about giving their child psychoactive medications should read this book very carefully. Breggin may not be much of a neuroscientist, but his warnings should not be ignored. If nothing else, he does a good job of making the warning labels an interesting read. Be prepared.