Talking Back to Ritalin: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Stimulants and ADHD

446 Pages·2001·46.6 MB·English

by  Peter R. Breggin

TALKING BACK TO RITALIN
BOOKS BYP ETER R. BREGGIN, M.D.
Nonfiction
College Students in a Mental Hospital: An Account of Organized Social
Contacts between College Volunteers and Mental Patients in a
Hospital Community (1962) (jointly authored by Umbarger et al.)
Electroshoek: Its Brain-Disabling Effects (1979)
The Psychology of Freedom: Liberty and Love as a Way of Life (1980)
Psychiatric Drugs: Hazards to the Brain (1983)
Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the Drugs,
Electroshoek and Biochemical Theories of the 'New Psychiatry'
(1991)
Beyond Conflict: From Self-Help and Psychotherapy to Peacemaking (1992)
Talking Back to Prozac: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Today's
Most Controversial Drug (1994) (Co-authored by Ginger Ross
Breggin)
Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons (1996) (Co-edited by
E. Mark Stern)
Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshoek and the Role
of the FDA (199?)
The Heart of Being Helpful: Empathy and the Creation of a Healing
Presence (1997)
The War Against Children of Color: Psychiatry Targets Inner-City Youth
(1998) (Co-authored by Ginger Ross Breggin)
Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric
Medications (1999) (Co-authored by David Cohen)
Reclaiming Our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis (2000)
The Antidepressant Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About
Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa and Luvox (2001)
Fiction
The Crazy from the Sane (1971)
After the Good War (1972)
TALKING BACK
TO RITALIN
What Doctors Aren't
Telling You About
Stimulants and ADHD
REVISED EDITION
Peter R. Breggin, M.D.
DA CAPO PRESS
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Copyright 2001 © Peter R. Breggin
Cover Design by Katherine Topaz
All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Breggin, Peter Roger, 1936-
Talking back to Ritalin :
what doctors aren't telling you about stimulants for children/
Peter R. Breggin—Rev.ed.
p, cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56751-213-5 (cloth)—ISBN 0-7382-0544-3 (pbk.)
1. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—Treatment. 2. Methylphenidate
hydrochloride—Side effects. 3. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—
Alternative treatment. I.Title
RJ506.H9 B74 2000
618.92'858906—dc21 00-064521
Da Capo Press is a member of the Perseus Books Group.
Find us on the World Wide Web at
http://www.dacapopress.com
Da Capo Press books are available for special discounts for bulk purchases in the
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please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 11
Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142, or call 1-617-252-5298.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 32
For my wife, Ginger, and for her parents, Jean and Phil,
with gratitude for their love
A CAUTION TO THE READER
T
alking Back to Ritalin is a critique of the use of stimulant drags such as
Ritalin, Concerta, Metadate ER, Dexedrine, and Adderall for the
behavioral control of children. There are dozens of books on the market
which take a more positive view of these medications but this is the only
book that examines their mechanism of action and their adverse effects in
depth and detail. Much of the material in this book has not been previously
available even to physicians and other health professionals. This revised edi-
tion has been bolstered with breaking news events and additional scientific
data.
Psychiatric drugs are not only dangerous to take, they are dangerous to
stop taking as well. When stopping stimulant medications, the child's origi-
nal symptoms may grow worse or new symptoms may develop. Withdrawal
can cause "crashing" with lethargy, fatigue, depression and suicidal feelings.
Severe "hyperactivity" and psychosis can develop. Therefore, withdrawal
from stimulants should usually be done slowly, with experienced clinical
supervision and careful attention to the child's needs and feelings of comfort.
This book is not a treatment guide. No book can substitute for a clin-
ical evaluation.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments xi
Foreword by Dick Scruggs xiii
Introduction: The Impact of the First Edition xv
Part One
Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall, Concerta,
Metadate ER and Other Stimulant Drugs
Chapter 1: The Tide Is Shifting: Events Since the First Edition
of Talking Back to Ritalin 3
Chapter 2: Ritalin Is Not Candy for the Brain: Adverse Effects
of Stimulant Drugs 28
Chapter 3: Gross Brain Malfunctions and Cell Death Caused
by Stimulants 62
Chapter 4: How Stimulants Really Work 82
Chapter 5: Vitamin R: The Road to Addiction and Abuse 94
Chapter 6: "They Never Like the Medication:" How Children
Feel about Taking Ritalin and How Adults React to Them 109
Chapter 7: Do Stimulants Help Children and Will Doctors Tell
You the Truth? What Three Decades of Research Reveal 124
Chapter 8: Definitive Study or Scientific Hoax? NIMH Funds
Research on Ritalin 141
Part Two
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Chapter 9: The "Science" Behind Making an ADHD Diagnosis 150
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 10: Scientific Evidence for a Biological Cause of ADHD:
You Can't Argue with a Brain Scan, Can You? 172
Chapter 11: Back to the Future: Psychiatry's Long History
of Perpetuating False Biological Ideas about "ADHD" 186
Chapter 12: Parents, Caregivers, and Teachers Make the
Difference—Scientific Evidence That ADHD/Ritalin
Advocates Ignore 194
Chapter 13: Physical Causes of ADHD-like Symptoms:
Medical Disorders, Drugs, Food Additives, and Other
Factors That Do and Don't Affect a Child's Behavior 204
Part Three
The Politics of the ADHD/Ritalin Lobby
Chapter 14: Who's Behind All This?
Part 1: The Pharmaceutical Company and Its Allies 216
Chapter 15: Who's Behind All This?
Part II: The Taxpayers* Money 247
Chapter 16: Brave New World of Childhood: Growing Up
on Psychiatric Drugs 270
Part Four
How We Can Help Our Children
Chapter 17: Empowering Yourself As a Parent 287
Chapter 18: The Environmental Stressor Checklist: How to
Find Out What's Upsetting Your Child 296
Chapter 19: Making Ourselves Ready to Help Our Children 306
Chapter 20: When Adults Are in Conflict with the Children
They Love 312
CONTENTS ix
Chapter 21: What to Do When the Teacher Says Your Child
Has ADHD 320
Appendix A: Stimulant Drug Information Summary 334
Appendix B: The International Center for the Study of
Psychiatry and Psychology 338
Appendix C: Ethical Human Sciences and Services 340
Notes 342
Bibliography 363
Index 40?
About the Author 429