Massachusetts News 

November 1--The majority of U.S. children who are given Ritalin are diagnosed with "Attention Deficit Disorder." 

But it’s not clear that this "disorder" is real.  

Some experts think that a hyperactive child is reacting to a stressful home environment – not the pain of a chemical imbalance in the brain that could make it hard for a child to concentrate. Other experts think that too many kids, particularly boys, are being misdiagnosed. They’re just being boys, say some, and lazy parents and lazy school officials don’t take the time to guide them and discipline them. Instead, they medicate them. 

"Conflicts between children and adults are redefined as diseases or disorders within the children," says Dr. Paul Breggin. "Treatment with stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate (Ritalin) will produce a greater docility in any child (or animal) without actually improving conduct or academic performance. Parents are not informed that they are trading behavioral control for toxic drug effects." 

Although Ritalin has been around since the 1950s, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder was not voted to be a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association until 1987. "Within one year, 500,000 children in the U.S. alone were diagnosed with this affliction created by a vote," reported the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. In 1990 federal funds were released to treat kids with the "disorder." 

"General Term For Behavioral Problems" 

Attention Deficit Disorder is described by the as "a general term for several behavioral problems previously known as minimal brain dysfunction in children." It further states: "Symptoms of attention deficit disorder include a chronic history of moderate to severe distractibility, short attention span, hyperactivity, emotional changeability and impulsiveness." 

In describing the "disorder," many doctors tell parents that their child is suffering from a chemical imbalance in the brain that can be corrected with medication. But there’s the rub, say critics. They claim that you can’t put a medical finger on the disorder. It can’t be seen or measured. Dr. Fred Baughman, a pediatric neurologist and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, says that Attention Deficit Disorder is not a real disease, "but rather a contrived illusion of a disease" that was "invented in-committee at the American Psychiatric Association." 

"No physical or chemical abnormality has ever been confirmed," said Baughman. "There is no such thing as ADD. –There is nothing a physician can see to confirm or refute it." 

Baughman adds that FDA official Paul Leber, M.D., has written that, "As yet no distinct pathophysiology (no physical or chemical abnormality) for the disorder has been delineated." DEA official Gene Haislip has written Baughman and said: "We are also unaware that AD/HD has been validated as a biologic/organic syndrome or disease." In addition, the Center for Disease Control has declined to say whether it considers Attention Deficit Disorder a disease or not, said Baughman. A report issued by the National Institute of Health found that for the alleged disorder, "There is no current, validated diagnostic test." 

No One Knows 

The American Psychiatric Association itself admits in its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual that there are no "laboratory tests that have been established as diagnostic" for "Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder." 

Then how does one diagnose ADD? According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, a child who exhibits at least eight symptoms for at least six months has the disorder. Those symptoms are: 

• Often fidgets hands or feet or squirms in seat. 

• Has difficulty remaining seated when required to do so. 

• Is easily distracted. 

• Has difficulty awaiting turn in games or group  

situations. 

• Often blurts out answers to questions before they  

have been completed. 

• Has difficulty following through on instructions,  

such as in doing chores. 

• Has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play  

activities. 

• Often shifts from one uncompleted activity to another. 

• Has difficulty playing quietly. 

• Often talks excessively. 

• Often interrupts others or butts into other  

children’s games. 

• Does not seem to listen to what is being said. 

• Often loses things necessary for tasks or activities such as toys, pencils, books and assignments. 

• Engages in physically dangerous activities without considering possible consequences, such as running into street without looking. 

These "symptoms" sound a lot like childhood, said Dr. Breggin. "The "illness’ consists of being disruptive to the lives of adults – a definition that seems tailored for social control." Author Gerald Golden has said: "The behavior is seen as being disruptive and unacceptable by parents and teachers, and the child is socially handicapped as a result." 

Breggin adds that "symptoms" of Attention Deficit Disorder usually disappear when the child is given something interesting to do. And, the "disorder" usually goes away during summer vacation, according to people who believe the problem is real. 

The symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder should not "red flag the children as mentally ill," said Breggin. "They should red flag the adults as requiring new efforts to attend to the needs of the children." 

If a child is persistently disrespectful or angry, he said, it’s usually because there’s a stressor in his life, something over which the child has no control. Children learn by example, said Breggin. "When treated with respect, they tend to respond respectfully. When loved, they tend to be loving. While the source of the child’s upset may turn out to be more complicated that that "perhaps the parent is too afraid or distracted to apply rational discipline and lets the child run wild, or perhaps the child is being abused outside the home – the source always lies in the larger world. Children do not, on their own, create severe emotional conflicts within themselves and with the adults around them." 

A "Problem" of Boyhood 

Boys are diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder far more frequently than girls. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, conduct disorder is "much more common in males." The Manual also says that ADD occurs in boys four to nine times more frequently than in girls. Michael Gurian, a family therapist and the author of five books on male development, blames the Ritalin/ADD problem partly on absent dads and working moms. Ritalin can make things worse, he said. 

In our culture today, Breggin told Massachusetts News, there’s little respect for women and dads are not responsible. "It’s the father who’s not doing the job in most cases," said Breggin. "If a kid is smacking his mother over and over again, who’ll stop the kid? The father is supposed to discipline the child. The father is supposed to step in and take charge so the child knows. But fathers aren’t doing this today." 

Breggin continued: "Aside from feeling bored or in conflict with adults, why would boys ordinarily tend to act resentfully and rebelliously toward the authority of their mothers and female teachers? The simple answer is that they are trained to be that way toward women in general. In fact, most grown men in the world today resent being told what to do by women." 

It’s "Official," Says U.S.  

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder was officially recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in 1991 as a handicap under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, reported Phyllis Schlafly of Eagle Forum. 

As a result, said Schlafly, the Education Department directed public school districts to screen and identify children allegedly suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder and provide them with educational and psychological services. Thereafter, "generous funding suddenly began to flow" in addition to the funds that public schools already get from Medicaid. 

Furthermore, under Goals 2000, public schools may test kids for all sorts of alleged disorders. These officials also may prescribe and administer such drugs as Ritalin, Valium, Lorazepam and Prozac. Because of varied rules, many schools can use "nurse practitioners" and "physician assistants" to prescribe those drugs, said Schlafly. (Goals 2000 is funded with tax money from the Department of Education, Medicaid, Maternal and Child Health block grants, state programs and private foundations.) 

The number of children rushed to hospital emergency rooms because of Ritalin abuse has increased. In 1991 there were less than 25 such incidents for kids aged 10 to 14. But in 1995 there were more than 400 such incidents. That number is about the same for cocaine abusers in that same age group 
 

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