RITALIN: the robot drug
Filed under: Dave Carpenter — Copyright©2006 Dave Carpenter @ 10:46 am

by Dave Carpenter, N.D., C. Ac., CCI

Recently, doctors and Ritalin manufacturers have begun to warn parents that the long-range outcome for children who have attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is not good unless they receive treatment. Studies are cited which lead a parent to believe that boys diagnosed with ADD or ADHD will suffer from a higher incidence of criminal behavior as young adults, a very frightening prediction when cited by the trusted family doctor. It often causes a parent to accept putting the child on Ritalin for long-term treatment of the problem.

The sad thing is, the studies sited by the family doctor were about children with ADD or ADHD and WHO WERE TREATED WITH RITALIN. (Arch Gen Psych, 1991;48:77-83) These reports should discourage parents from putting their children on Ritalin even more. Based on research spanning nearly 55 years and 9,000 original articles and reviews, Ritalin specialist James Swanson and his research team found that:

* Long-term beneficial effects have not been verified by research
* Short-term effects of stimulants should not be considered a permanent solution to chronic ADD symptoms
* Stimulant medication may improve learning in some cases and impair it in others.
* Prescribed doses may lower optimal learning
* No large effects on skills or higher order processes (don’t expect long-term learning improvement).
* No improvement in long-term adjustment. It does not reduce antisocial behavior. At best, the “positive” effect on children lasts no more than 4 to 18 weeks.

The evidence seems to indicate that Ritalin may be a good way to make a zombie of a child (easier for parents and teachers to control) but is not a good way to truly help that childs’ behavior or learning abilities. A good book on Ritalin is “Talking Back to Ritalin” by Peter Breggin if you are interested in reading further on this.

It’s my opinion that these behaviors are the result of changes in the body which alter the “energy flow” or balance through the meridians, etc., causing a change in how it handles the outside world or environment, from foods to electricity and everything in between. What would cause these malfunctions? Try too much sugar, too few minerals or vitamins in the diet, a sedentary lifestyle, vaccinations, virus, bacteria, EMF’s and many others.

This “reversed energy flow” will cause some weird reactions. For example, many mothers have told me that their child does better if she gives the child a couple of cups of coffee to start their day. It seems to SLOW them down! Interestingly, sedating herbs and drugs tend to increase the hyperactivity levels rather than reducing them, again the opposite reaction to what you would expect. Stimulants, on the other hand, do tend to slow these kids down. Unfortunately, like Ritalin, coffee only works for a short time and then the problem is as bad as before. The only real cure is to correct the imbalances or disturbances in the body which are causing the problem in the first place, and frankly, with help from mom and dad this can take place very quickly. I’ve had teachers call parents and exclaim that the child is a “changed kid” overnight after putting them on corrective therapy. If you or someone you know has this challenge please get them some help.