-
- Last year the American Medical Association conducted
a review "to deal with public and professional concern" about
the use of psychotropic drugs to control the minds of children. [*] Not
surprisingly, their conclusion was that there is no problem - children
who display excessive energy and who don't pay enough attention to adults
should be dosed with potentially harmful drugs that are intended to overcome
their free wills, bringing them under control.
-
- Below is the response of Peter Breggin, M.D., to the
AMA, presented in a letter that was published in the Journal of the American
Medical Association. Here are some highlights:
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- "While admitting there are no proven long-term benefits,
the AMA report supports the long-term use of the drug [Ritalin]."
-
- "The council report specifically denies that methylphenidate
[Ritalin] is used for behavioral control but the diagnostic items are entirely
limited to behaviors. The drug is almost always given to suppress behaviors
that signal unmet needs in the child or conflicts between the child and
adults."
-
- "Cookie-cutter diagnoses and assembly-line pharmacological
treatments do not do justice to the needs of our children. On an individual
level, America's children need much more attention to their personal, family,
and educational needs. On a social level, they need improved schools and
family life and a value system that emphasizes their individuality rather
than drug-induced compliance and conformity."
-
- _____
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- Journal of the American Medical Association, April 28,
1999 -- Volume 281, Number 16, pages 1490-1 _____
-
- To the Editor: By promoting the diagnosis of ADHD and
the use of methylphenidate [Ritalin] as a treatment, the AMA Council on
Scientific Affairs' report [1] does a disservice. The council report fails
to cite any of the dozens of critical publications spanning decades. [2-6]
It exaggerates the benefits of methylphenidate, claiming short-term use
improves academic performance. Reviews instead conclude that methylphenidate
has no positive effects on learning but can impair it. [3] While admitting
there are no proven long-term benefits, the AMA report supports the long-term
use of the drug. The report ignores methylphenidate's many adverse effects.
[3]
-
- The council report calls ADHD a "neuropsychiatric
disorder," but it is a diagnosis of exclusion made only in the absence
of any known medical or neurological cause. All the "symptoms"
are drawn from normal childhood behaviors, such as squirming in a chair,
acting bored, talking out of turn, and being forgetful and inattentive.
When these behaviors increase in number or intensity, it really signals
that the child requires more individualized attention to unmet basic needs,
such as a more engaging and individualized educational environment, more
rational or consistent discipline in the home or school, unconditional
love, or security and safety. An increase in ADHD-like behaviors almost
always indicates that we, as adults, are not giving the child much-needed
attention.
-
- The council report specifically denies that methylphenidate
is used for behavioral control but the diagnostic items are entirely limited
to behaviors. The drug is almost always given to suppress behaviors that
signal unmet needs in the child or conflicts between the child and adults.
-
- The council report minimizes how widely methylphenidate
is being used and abused. By contrast, the International Narcotics Control
Board [5] and the Drug Enforcement Administration [4] warn that 90% of
the worlds methylphenidate is consumed in the United States, that 10% to
12% of boys aged 6 to 14 years are being diagnosed and given methylphenidate,
that more high school seniors are abusing the drug than receiving it through
physicians, and that methylphenidate is one of the nation's most commonly
stolen and diverted substances.
-
- Cookie-cutter diagnoses and assembly-line pharmacological
treatments do not do justice to the needs of our children. On an individual
level, America's children need much more attention to their personal, family,
and educational needs. On a social level, they need improved schools and
family life and a value system that emphasizes their individuality rather
than drug-induced compliance and conformity.
-
- Peter R. Breggin, MD Bethesda, Md
-
- 1. Goldman LS, Genel M, Bezman RJ, Slanetz PJ, for the
Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association, Diagnosis
and treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and
adolescents. JAMA. 1998;279:1100-1107. 2. Armstrong T. The Myth of the
ADHD Child. New York, NY: Dutton; 1995. 3. Breggin PR. Talking Back to
Ritalin. Monroe, Me: Common Courage Press; 1998. 4. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Methylphenidate: A Background Paper. Washington, DC: Drug Enforcement Administration,
US Dept of Justice; 1995. 5. International Narcotics Control Board, INCB
Sees Continuing Risk in Stimulant Prescribed for Children. Vienna, Austria:
International Narcotics Control Board; 1997. INCB Annual Report Background
Note 4. 6. McGuinness D. Attention deficit disorder: the emperor's new
clothes, animal "pharm," and other fiction. In: Fisher S, Greenberg
RP, eds. The Limits of Biological Treatments for Psychological Distress.
Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates; 1998:151-188.
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-
- Peter Breggin's web site: http://breggin.com http://www.breggin.com/ritalinbkexcerpt.html
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