Old Myths, Real Solutions
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“It may surprise many to know that studies have found that children who take amphetamine-type or other mind-altering drugs do not perform better academically. No studies indicate enhanced academic performance from these drugs.”
“I hear stories all the time, ‘This child was never an angry child, never an aggressive child, until the Ritalin’ or ‘until the Adderall’ or what have you. And they begin to have crazy, frequently violent thoughts.”
“The data clearly show the notion that [methylphenidate] is a weak stimulant is completely incorrect.”
“[NIMH officials] don’t want to hear how you can make somebody well, and what causes the problem. They want to hear ‘Which drug do I use?’”
“How can millions of children be taking a drug that is pharmacologically very similar to another drug, cocaine, that is not only considered dangerous and addictive, but whose buying, selling and using are also considered a criminal act?”Thus, infants can be so “hyperactive” that they rock their cribs around the room or bounce them off walls, according to Rapp. By finding and correcting the physical source of the problem, the child can be helped so the symptoms disappear, she told Freedom, eliminating any reason for drugs.
But NIMH officials and others, she said, don’t listen. “They don’t want to hear how you can make somebody well, and what causes the problem,” Rapp said. “They want to hear ‘Which drug do I use?’”
Rapp and others recommend that if a child exhibits unusual behavior, first take him or her to a competent, non-psychiatric doctor and have them properly tested.
Robert Erickson, M.D., reported a patient had been taking prescribed drugs, including antidepressants and painkillers. She experienced headaches, tiredness and weight gain, and, not surprisingly, was unhappy. Desperate, she made an appointment at Erickson’s Gainesville, Florida, clinic.
“We checked her hormones,” Erickson told Freedom. “They were totally out of balance. We had a pharmacy make up a custom mix of hormones and we put her on a natural thyroid support regimen. She came off her antidepressants and painkillers. Within 90 days, her energy came back, she was able to sleep through the night, her headaches went away and her depression lifted.”
Erickson is among a growing number of physicians and other professionals around the country committed to finding and treating the source of the problem, as opposed to merely smothering symptoms with harmful prescription drugs.
In his book, The Omega-3 Connection, Andrew L. Stoll, M.D., director of the psychopharmacology research laboratory at McLean Hospital in Boston and assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, reviews new evidence supporting the use of omega-3 oil from fish and other sources for depression. His recommendation is supported by Joseph Mercola, D.O., who authors a newsletter on holistic medicine.
What Can You Do?
Judi Matthews told Freedom that in 2001, when her own daughter was 7 years old, the school principal asked Judi whether she had ever thought the girl had ADD or “Attention-Deficit Disorder,” as ADHD was formerly called. “I went ballistic,” Judi said. “I said, ‘You don’t know anything about ADD. First of all, it doesn’t exist. And secondly, how dare you even put a diagnosis on my child, when you’re not a doctor!’” It was the same ordeal her mother had faced 25 years ago with Rod, she recalled. The same day, Judi said, she pulled her daughter out of that school and never took her back.
If you, your child or someone you know is diagnosed as having ADHD, or as being depressed, or is prescribed a drug for a non-medical condition, or is currently on an addictive prescription drug:
1 Know your rights. With very few exceptions, no one can force you or your child to take psychotropic prescription drugs. If you are not certain of your rights, contact the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) at or (800) 869-2247. CCHR, established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology to investigate and expose psychiatric violations of human rights, and to clean up the field of mental healing, can help you to determine what your rights are.
2 Before taking any psychotropic drugs, see a physician who agrees to explore the causes of the condition and solutions other than drugging. Preferably, find a physician who is board-certified in integrated medicine, alternative medicine or environmental medicine, and who agrees to comprehensive testing and natural remedies for allergies and hormonal and nutritional imbalances or deficiencies, and to natural alternatives to stimulants, antidepressants or pain medications.
3 If your child has difficulty in school or is being threatened with a psychiatric label, such as ADHD, contact those who can help him or her deal directly with the source of the learning problem — Applied Scholastics or the World Literacy Crusade. Also, take your child for a physical exam as covered above.
4 If you, your child or someone you care about is already on an addictive prescription drug, contact an effective, drug-free rehabilitation specialist. Narconon or 800-468-6933) can advise on safe and effective steps. Their first precaution: withdrawal should be done under a doctor’s supervision.
References:
1 See, among others, “Ritalin: Mind Control in America’s Classrooms,” Freedom, Volume 20, Number 1; “Laurie Dann: The Making of a Killer,” Freedom, August 1988; “Prescription for Murder: Psychiatric Drugs Create Killer,” Freedom, November/December 1988; and “The Hidden Hand of Violence,” Freedom, Volume 31, Issue 2.
2 Bruce Wiseman, Psychiatry: The Ultimate Betrayal (Los Angeles: Freedom Publishing, 1995), pages 270–271.
3 “The Dumbbell Curve,” Regna Lee Wood, June 1996; also, Digest of Education Statistics, Chapter 2, “Elementary and Secondary Education,” Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 2000.
4 Methylphenidate (A Background Paper), U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, October 1995, page 16.
5 Jean West, “Children’s Drug Is More Potent than Cocaine,” The Observer, September 9, 2001.
6 Ibid.
7 “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2003,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, page 6; and “Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2002,” Bureau of Justice Statistics, page 6.
8 Greg Toppo, “No Child Left Behind Takes Center Stage,” USA Today, December 23, 2003.
9 See “Ritalin in the Streets: Illegal Use of Psychiatric Drugs Escalating in U.S. Cities,” Freedom, July 1988, and “13-Year-Old Ritalin Pusher: Getting Ritalin Is ‘Like Walking up to a Vending Machine,’” Freedom, October 1988.
10 Jacqueline Frost, “Ritalin May Cause Children to Smoke Early, Abuse Stimulants as Adults, UC Berkeley Professor Says,” University of California, Berkeley, May 5, 1999.
11 J.H. Satterfield, B.T. Satterfield and A.M. Schell, “Therapeutic Interventions to Prevent Delinquency in Hyperactive Boys,” Journal of American Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, January 1987, pages 56–64.
12 Dave Moniz, “Thousands of Troops Let Go for Psychiatric Troubles,” The Indianapolis Star, September 28, 1999.
13 “Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders: Are Children Being Overmedicated?”, Statement of Richard K. Nakamura, Ph.D., acting director, National Institute of Mental Health, September 26, 2002.
14 See, for example, Malcolm B. Bowers Jr. and Daniel X. Freedman, “Chapter 14, Psychoses Associated with Drug Use,” American Handbook of Psychiatry (New York: Basic Books, 1975); Travis Thompson, Predicting Dependence Liability of Stimulant and Depressant Drugs (Baltimore: University Park Press, 1977), page 83: “Perhaps the best-known effect of chronic stimulant administration is psychosis. Psychosis has been associated with chronic use of several stimulants: d- and l-amphetamine, methylphenidate ... and cocaine”; and Joseph D. Noshpitz, editor, Basic Handbook of Child Psychiatry, Volume Two, Disturbances in Development (New York: Basic Books, 1979), page 449: “The indications for and the modes of prescribing methylphenidate are similar to those for the amphetamines, except that ten milligrams of methylphenidate is used in place of five milligrams of amphetamines. Results are very much the same.” And pages 630–631: “long-term use is associated with vascular degeneration, particularly in the brain. ... Psychoses secondary to stimulant abuse ... persist long after withdrawal.”
15 Carol Whalen and Barbara Henker, “Stimulant Pharmacotherapy for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders: An Analysis of Progress, Problems and Prospects,” in From Placebo to Panacea: Putting Psychotherapeutic Drugs to the Test (New York: J. Wiley and Sons, 1997), pages 323–356.
16 See, for example, Thomas J. Moore, Prescription for Disaster (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998), page 23; “New Research in Animals Reveals Possible Long-Term Effects of Stimulants on Brain and Behavior,” Blair Gately, NIH News, National Institutes of Health, December 8, 2003.
17 David Ruenzel, “ADDicted,” Teacher Magazine, November/December 1996.
18 Irving Kirsch, University of Connecticut, Thomas J. Moore, George Washington University, Alan Scoboria and Sarah S. Nicholls, University of Connecticut, “An Analysis of Antidepressant Medication Data Submitted to the FDA,” Prevention & Treatment, July 15, 2002.
19 Mary Ann Block, M.D., No More ADHD: 10 Steps to Help Improve Your Child’s Attention and Behavior Without Drugs (Hurst, Texas: Block Books, 2001), page 53.
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HELP OR BETRAYAL?
Why are school problems increasingly diagnosed as “mental disorders” that call for costly, unending and even fatal “treatment”? Find the answer to this and other questions in Psychiatry: The Ultimate Betrayal. |
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To order your copy now, send check or money order for $25 for singly copy, $110 for 5 copies or $200 for 10 copies to:Citizens Commission on Human Rights International 6616 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028 (800) 869-2247 Include $3 for shipping and handling. (California residents add 8.25 percent sales tax.) Psychiatry: The Ultimate Betrayal can also be ordered through the Web site of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights. |
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