Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children

[Arun Mehta <amehta@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in>]

I sent Tim's original post to a psychiatrist friend, who responded:

Ritalin is a lifesaver for a small % of children who suffer from a condition
characterized by hyperactivity and poor attention span.  These kids (usually
boys) may be bright as hell but fail in school because they can't sit still
or pay attention; they get made fun of, they behave badly, get depressed,
it's a mess.  

Some of them (milder cases) respond to behavior modification therapies which
involve training of the parents and teachers to have realistic expectation,
recognize the specific difficulties the kids have, set them goals, reward
them for achieving them, give them disincentives for misbehaving etc. Others
really do need Ritalin.  It's a relief not just for the parents and teachers
but for the kids to be able to sit still and pay attention and learn and
succeed and be liked etc.  Most of them grow out of it by their mid-teens. 
However, there are many more kids on Ritalin than there need to be; some
teachers pressure parents to get kids put on it... I know one very bright
little girl who's bored out of her mind in school, the school refuses to
move her up a grade or give her more challenging work to do, instead
complain that she is not paying attention and suggested that she be put on
Ritalin... mother was furious.  

Some of the kids who use foul language (a very small %) have Tourette's
disease, and also need medicine (a different one)... by and large the
politically correct thing is sometimes to label a kid as sick rather than
bad or spoiled, this is probably why drugs are over-used.  But we can't
throw the baby out with the bathwater!

By the way, some old people who are severely depressed after a stroke also
do well with Ritalin and don't respond to any other antidepressants...
Arun Mehta Phone +91-11-6841172, 6849103 amehta@cpsr.org
http://mahavir.doe.ernet.in/~pinaward/arun.htm
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