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

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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.

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.

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.

We were in the process of getting our child diagnosed with ADHD, and, after reading all the "standard" ADHD books, I decided to read a book from the "other side" - I like to keep an open mind.

This is the first book that I have read by Dr. Peter Breggin, and I was impressed. He has a name for himself as an extremist, which he is. He also has something as a name for being cruel to children, which I don't think he is, I actually saw a compassion and commitment for children and their problems.

Please let me explain.

He admits in this book that his perspective is a skewered one - that since he treats children who were hurt by Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs, and he sees the ones who have the worst side effects, some of them irreversible, he tends to have a negative view of Ritalin.

But what I really wanted to see was some alternative - great, Ritalin is no good, but what else is there? You can't just take away a solution without at least giving us another solution! And that is where I was, indeed, very pleasantly surprised. He has a chapter on what to do to help your child without Ritalin, and it is inspired, it is genius. It is hard to explain his method in this review, I couldn't explain it as well as he does, anyway. I recommend this book just for that chapter alone. And although his method makes sense, the proof is in the pudding - the proof is in the stories of children that he has helped, that he has taught to have self-control, and to be weaned off the medicine.

Now, I would like to put in my own opinion here, if I may. Dr. Breggin is an extremist, and no extremist is ever 100% right. His practice is comprised of children (and adults - although he brings no adult case studies) who reacted badly to the medication they received, and he helps the parents wean them off, etc. In that case, it may be argued that he is really seeing only one side of the coin. He is seeing all the patients who had side effects, some of them *extremely* severe, and not seeing all the patients who were helped, and did well, on medication. It may in fact be argued that the patients he is seeing should not have been on Ritalin in the first place.

I recommend this book, but with one caveat - take this as a warning, not as fact. Not all children who take Ritalin have such severe side effects. Many children who take Ritalin are helped, a lot, with almost no side effects. In fact, some people that I know call Ritalin a wonder drug. But, it IS a psychiatric drug. While it helps tremendously for those who need it, the way that it is being prescribed today - almost like Tylenol - does not say very much for the way we are treating our children. The side effects, when they are there, can be very severe, as Dr. Breggin says over and over again in his book. So my recommendation is first, to make sure that your child really does have ADHD before prescribing Ritalin (you would be surprised at how quickly some doctors will prescribe it with little, or no testing), and second, watch out for the side effects. Most doctors will not tell you what the side effects could be, and what to watch out for, which is why this book is so valuable in that sense. I am also surprised at how many people I have met who say they were prescribed Ritalin and it didn't help. Why in the world did they keep on taking a medication - a psychiatric medication - if didn't even help?

Parents should not be cowed by schools and doctors - if you are a parent, you know your child best. And do not be frightened into giving your child medicine that you don't feel is right for him/her. Also, people will tell you that you should start as soon as you can - the earlier the better, they will say. That is simply not true. Ritalin is not a cure for ADHD, it is simply a drug that will help symptoms. Ritalin does not change anyone's brain long term, only for the amount of time that they are on the drug. So there is no danger in waiting a while - a month - a year - to see if they will outgrow it without the drugs. On the other hand, if your child is totally out of control (I find it hard imagining a five year old so totally out of control that he/she must be put on drugs, but I guess it could happen, although very rarely) then, yes, you must put him on drugs immediately!

This is, I think, the part that this book is missing. True, Ritalin could have side effects. True, most children who are on Ritalin should not be on it, and can be helped with Dr. Breggin's wonderful common sense. But he totally overlooks a small, but essential, percentage of children (and adults) for whom Ritalin is absolutely a life-saver, in every sense of the word!

I have known people with children put on drugs like Ritalin since grade school. In high school they were worse and got more diagnosis to last a life time. The parents say they have been compliant on medication and it keeps getting worse and worse and they only get more meds. and diagnosis and the parents can hardly go out of the home without concern for what their children may do.

This book helps many. Those who like the drugs are just speculating and don't listen to the stories of how hyperactive children are helped and recover without meds.

I completely agree with everything the reader from New Mexico says.

I disagree completely with the reader below his response. Are you a doctor or biochemist? DO you know the difference between a central nervous stimulant and antibiotics!?! Obviously you do not know the differences between them and their side effects.

People need to be educated about these issues, but the majority of people are too lazy to do research, but instead get their information from friends, television, or any other 'easier' method of obtaining information.

If the parents and teachers of these children are actually willing to blame themselves for these problems (take a behavior modification class at your local college as a non-degree seeking student!), instead of LABELING the children with some disorder, then will these problems slowly "spontaneously disappear".

Thank you for reading this.

I joined the group CHADD after reading one too many false or misleading stories about the FDA approved mediation, Ritalin and ADHD. My job requires hours of research and I love to research new topics. After a highly regarded doctor found that I had ADD, I started to research the available treatments.

There is a fantastic amount of disinformation regarding ADHD and ADD, and usually by people who will try to sell you something that will not work. First off, Ritalin is one of the safest medications ever approved by the FDA. In fact, in some countries Ritalin is available over the counter.

Second, a healthy diet and exercise helps everyone concentrate a bit better and many studies have shown a strong link between these factors. That said, these are NOT a replacement for medication.

Scientology and snake oil salesman/saleswoman have found a place where they can make money off selling books and herbal remedies that do not work. In fact, Congress formed a committee to research some of the studies and claims Scientology presented as fact. After some research into the studies and claims, the Congressional committee found so many issues they ended their research early and admonished Scientology for wasting their time.

Unfortunately, I cannot link this information but I encourage you to do your own research.

Contrary to his press release, Breggin is not a mainstream practitioner, but a charlatan exploiting the fears of millions of Americans. His findings have been directly contradicted by the American Medical Association, the National Institutes of Health and the American Psychiatric Association. The book is written in an hysterical style that makes it hard to take seriously and undermines his claims to legitimacy.

Ritalin lasts for 4 hours. Everyone stops taking medicine once they feel better. Even doctors who should know the course of antibiotics for a strep throat is 10 days, stop after 5, once they feel better. The reason people take medications, such as Ritalin, is that the symptoms return if they do not. These symptoms are unbearable and harsh. They include hard outcomes such as self-injury and accidents from impulsity. Parents, children, and teachers continue it because the life of the child is improved.

Peter Breggin believes he knows what is good for all the millions of people on Ritalin, each with unique circumstances and challenges. He believes he knows what is best for the individual child better than those who know him a lifetime and care about him the most. My doctor informs patients of most of the information in that book.

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.