How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children

Contact: Fred Baughman, MD fredbaughmanmd@cox.net Author: The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes "Patients" of Normal Children http://www.trafford.com/4dcgi/view-item?item=9628

Is your child taking Ritalin? Is there a plague of psychiatric diseases in children?

On March 21, 2000, fourteen-year old Matthew Smith was having a good time skateboarding with two of his cousins. Suddenly, he collapsed to the floor and started turning blue. His cousins called 911 but the paramedics couldn’t revive him. At the hospital he was pronounced dead from a heart attack – a heart attack caused by Ritalin.

Matthews parents had been giving him Ritalin since he was six years old. Ritalin is classified as a Schedule II drug, which the DEA reserves for the most dangerous and addictive drugs that can be prescribed legally.

But to the educators at Matthew’s school, Ritalin was simply a magic pill that made troublesome students easier to manage.

Prior to being diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Matthew was an energetic, boisterous highly social child who did not focus on his school work quite the way his teachers wanted him to.

The push to label Matthew occurred when he was in the first grade. School officials said that he was fidgety in his seat and would sometimes disrupt the class, and that he often had trouble staying focused on his work.

The school social worker called Matthews parents and said that Matthew needed to take medication saying, “He’s got ants in his pants”.

This unqualified social worker made the diagnosis and recommendation for medication and handed them a list of physicians who would provide them with a prescription.

Even though this constitutes the practice of medicine without a license, this same process is applied in school districts across the nation by teachers, administrators, counselors, psychologists and social workers.

According to Dr. Fred Baughman, there is an epidemic taking place all across America.

Parents are told to place their children on Ritalin or Adderall or their child will be refused attendance at school and they will be charged with “medical neglect.”

“Parents are succumbing to the threats from school officials without any idea of the possible side effects of these addictive, dangerous drugs.

In San Diego at just one school, 65 percent of the fifth graders had been diagnosed with ADD and were on medication.

There are over 6 million children in the United States who have been diagnosed with ADHD and drugged for ADHD.

“We are drugging normal children so that they act less like normal children and forcing them to act like the docile adults who are supposed to be teaching them”.

Dr. Baughman is one of numerous medical professionals who recently testified in front of the FDA and Congress.

“ADHD is not a disorder, disease, syndrome or chemical imbalance of the brain. It is not over-diagnosed, under-diagnosed, or mis-diagnosed. It doesn’t exist. It is a total, 100%, Fraud.”

Nowhere in world’s literature is there proof that a single psychiatric diagnosis is an actual disease.

“ADHD and all of psychiatry’s “chemical imbalances” are manufactured diseases- invented diseases that results in huge profits for psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies.”

We have allowed school and health care professionals to blanket classify behavior and establish bounds for student conduct in the school environment. We hand out drugs to kids as freely as we give them Flintstone vitamins.

In spite of schools with posted signs everywhere that say “drug free zones” it turns out that nearly everywhere, the most effective drug pushers are the legal ones.

Dr. Baughman, author of the new book, The ADHD Fraud: How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children says that parents and educators have to stop thinking that the use of drugs is safe or necessary.

“We’ve gone on a diagnostic frenzy and sought out a chemical means for achieving peace and quiet in the classroom. Ritalin may solve problems for teachers but it’s not helping the children.”

Once children are labeled as ADHD they are no longer treated as normal. The first drug they ingest is an intoxication, a poisoning, their first and only disease. ADD and ADHD simply do not exist.

“The real question is how we go about destroying the monster we’ve created. We’ve been conned into believing that our normal children are abnormal--diseased. We’ve been lulled into believing there is a collective madness.

Our children act in ways that bother adults. We’ve got to now teach the adults that the solution is up to them. We know that there are sane people who are horrified at the thought of participating in a massive abuse of children.

It’s horrifying. There are over half a million children between the ages of 2 and 5 now being treated with powerful drugs for ADHD. Nobody has any idea of the effects these drugs will have on children so young.

The ADHD Fraud How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children By Fred A. Baughman Jr., MD With Craig Hovey

US$24.95, C$28.69, EUR20.49, £14.35 Published by Trafford Publishing Soon to be translated into Spanish

Dr. Baughman’s book is filled with real life case studies of children who have been harmed as a result of a diagnosis of ADHD. He also describes the evolution of the epidemic, and how Ritalin was created and it’s history as a drug in search of a disease.

Dr. Baughman presents the 14 symptoms that appear in the 1987 Diagnostic and Statistical manual that for the basis for most diagnosis of ADHD and shows that most of them really amount to a list of the things that normal children do that irritate adults who do not have the patience compassion or interest to tolerate them.

Dr. Baughman urges parents, teachers, and physicians to recognize the basic truth of the scientific literature; no proof exists. For a disease to be present there must be a macroscopic (visible to the naked eye, a palpable lump, an audible heart murmur), microscopic or chemical abnormality in life, or at autopsy.

With ADHD – there is NO abnormality at all. No psychiatric disorder/chemical imbalance/disease is an objective abnormality—a disease--not one.

The ADHD Fraud How Psychiatry Makes “Patients” Out of Normal Children is available in bookstores and online.

For more information visit www.adhdfraud.org or visit the website of the publisher www.trafford.com

Dr. Baughman can offer insights and comments and reports on the latest ADHD facts:

"They made a list of the most common symptoms of emotional discomfiture of children and in a stroke that could not be more devoid of science or Hippocratic motive-termed them " diseases"/ "chemical imbalances" each needing/requiring a "chemical balancer"- a pill." Thirty-five years of research into "biological" psychiatry's "chemical imbalances"/"diseases.” In 1970, when "hyperactivity"/ ADHD was first represented to Congress to be a brain disease, only 150,000 had it. Today, not by science, but by the "big lie" -saying it is a disease often enough, 6-7 million have it! Nor is ADHD the only "chemical imbalance"/"disease" of the brain. They give us conduct disorder (CD), oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD), major depressive disorder (MDD), OCD, PTSD, GAD, SAD, etc., a total of 374 psychiatric disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association (APA); “chemical imbalances” of the brain said to need "chemical balancers" –pills. How convenient.

In 2003 Congressional hearings it was said that 17% of the nation's school children, 8.8 million, were labeled and drugged by psychiatry. Toady it is 20%; one in five; 10.4 million! As if this were not enough the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health is set to foist upon us the compulsory, government-mandated mental health screening of all 52 million US schoolchildren. Clearly, it is a psycho-pharm-government cartel. When normal people are told they have a disease to make "patients" of them, we have a violation of informed consent which equals medical malpractice. When normals are lied to, to make "patients" of them, to drug, for-profit, we have a battery - poisoning. Undoubtedly, this is the greatest health care fraud in US history.

Fred A Baughman Jr., MD, is an adult and child neurologist certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Fellow of the Academy of Neurology. He has discovered and described real diseases. He has testified before the US Congress, the European Union, and innumerable other national and international government bodies. He is an expert witness in lawsuits and legal cases regarding psychiatry and invented diseases.

Dr. Baughman is an experienced media guest and has appeared on many national radio and television shows. He has authored over a hundred articles in medical journals and the national press. He resides in San Diego with his wife Annette.

Craig Hovey teaches economics at Nazareth College in Rochester, NY. He is a writer who’s interest in the book's subject was sparked when told by school personnel that his oldest son suffered from ADHD and had to take Ritalin.

ADHD EXPERTS HEAD TO WASHINGTON - IS THE FDA UP TO THE TASK? -- HTTP://WWW.OPEDNEWS.COM/ARTICLES/GENERA_EVELYN_P_060314_ADHD_EXPERTS_HEAD_TO.HTM

FEEL FREE TO REQUEST A COPY THE TESTIMONY OF FRED A. BAUGHMAN JR., MD, TO THE MARCH 22, 2006, MEETING OF THE FDA-PEDIATRIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

All parents with a child in school need to read Fred Baughman’s book to learn the reasons to be skeptical when informed that their child has “Attention Deficit Disorder” and must be treated with psychotropic drugs.

This book documents (how) the charlatan psychiatric profession abuses normal, healthy children with brain destructive drugs for the unconscionable purpose of creating so-called ‘mental illnesses’ such as ADHD for financial gain.

I wept as I read this book. As a retired teacher, school trustee, and grandmother of a Ritalin/SSRI/Risperdal damaged grandson, I know that Dr. Baughman speaks the truth.

Sharon Steele Kientz, 1995, National Right to Read Foundation, Teacher of the Year

Dr. Baughman has written a powerful expose of psychiatry and its hydra-headed influence with the FDA, drug companies, and public school personnel who pressure parents into unwittingly poisoning their children with dangerous drugs for the non-disease-ADHD. A must read for every parent of a school aged child.

Dr. Robert Sweet, Former President & Founder of the National Right to Read Foundation, Professional Staff, Committee on Education and the Workforce, U.S. Congress

The ADHD Fraud provides much needed, detailed, and practical advice as to how to prevent children from being earmarked as victims of ADHD. This book deserves the attention of every parent… all educators and policy makers.

I looked at his website years ago. I read what he had to say, ran it through my experiences and knowledge, and decided that I did not choose to believe what he reports as truth.

Two reasonably intelligent people can look at information and come to two different conclusions. That doesn't mean either one is crazy or stupid - it means that we made different equally valid choices.

The last time I checked there was no requirement that every conservative reach the identical conclusion on every topic. The rest of your rant, I choose to ignore - talk about red herrings?

We disagree - it's a fact - good thing I am responsible for me and mine and you are responsible for you and yours.

I wish you happiness and safety - sincerely, no bull or sarcasm intended. I've read enough of your posts to know you are one of the good guys, even though we disagree on some points.

From the time my son was three until he was nine, he did have problems. Even I had to admit that there was something really *off* with the boy's brain. My relatives insisted that he had ADD and I didn't buy it. Several doctors insisted he had ADD. (I got new doctors.) His teachers wanted him on meds. (I began to homeschool.)

I just knew, in my gut, that this was a symptom of a problem, not the problem itself.

At age 9 he began to have symptoms of autism and we ended up at a neurologist. Turns out that the kid is a Celiac and can't eat gluten-containing foods.

He's almost 14 now, 4 years gluten-free, and he's a normal, healthy kid.

Now that's ONE. One kid with a stubborn mom who wouldn't quit until we found the problem. How many other parents are railroaded into the ADD diagnosis when there's another, serious problem out there? I'd bet my life (and I do mean that) that most of the kids diagnosed with ADD are normal kids who aren't doing well in a sick society and that a large portion of the rest of those diagnosed actually have other issues that effect behavior just like my son did.

A kid who's always felt like crap doesn't know that he can feel any other way. They have no way to articulate their discomfort.

As a chronic pain sufferer, I can tell you that one side effect of consistent, low-level pain is little bursts of adrenaline. You're body is uncomfortable and it send out little "zings" of the hormone, telling you to move. (flight or fight) This causes anxiety. If the discomfort is low enough, you will have no idea where the feelings are coming from. Now tell someone who's feeling like that to sit still in a chair for 8 hours without making a fuss. Heck, I can't do it. You end up with very ADD-like symptoms.

But the ADD diagnosis is so easy

It's the equivalent of giving a housewife Valium. Drug 'em enough and they'll shut up and everyone's life will be easier.

Many times illness can look just like ADD in kids. And it can be something serious or something small like being nearsighted or having a low-level ringing of one ear. Many kids will react to food issues (there's more food problems than just allergies), general allergies, sleeping disorders, pinworms, a pinched nerve in the neck, GERD, etc with ADD behavior.

When someone's *uncomfortable* (and I'm not talking pain here, I'm talking about a constant discomfort) their body instinctively tells them to move to get away from the thing that's bothering them. When it's inside, they can't. After awhile, the body will ramp up the motivation to move with little bursts of adrealine. This causes a constant low-level anxiety. Kids can get irritable or hyper. If they've felt like this their whole lives, they don't even know enough to complain. They have no way to recognize a problem because they thing everyone feels this way.

It took us years to figure out that my son's a Celiac and years longer to find out that my daughter had huge bone spurs in her feet that made walking feel like she was barefoot on broken glass. (She just came out of the second surgery with no problems. Turns out she wasn't lazy after all.)

These problems aren't obvious. They aren't easy to pinpoint. It can take years to figure out.

Discipline is important and I'm glad I disciplined my son even though I know he had reasons for acting out the way he did. Once the problem was solved, he had a clear understanding of how he was supposed to behave and it was very easy for him to get into the swing of a normal life once the pain went away. He's also learned that Celiac disease is NOT an excuse to be an out of control jerk. He'll get exposed to gluten at some point in life and he'll be expected, as an adult, to control himself in those situations. (Heck, I can't use the PMS excuse to burn my house to the ground in frustration.)

Several years ago one of my kids had a young, inexperienced teacher who was doing more harm than good. I called the school to ask them what I had to do to get the kid switched. The lady over the phone went into a snotty speech about I'd have to fill out some forms and make a formal request to the school board. I asked when I could have the paperwork ready for me at the front desk to be picked up. She told me (with much attitude) that the board had never granted such a request, then asked me if I still wanted the paperwork to be ready.

I growled, "Yes. Have the disenrollment paperwork ready for me to pick up in 20 minutes. I'll be homeschooling from now on."

Good for you; I did much the same. Why beat your head against a brick wall when you can just walk around it ? Mine graduated homeschool this year and is a most delightful, poised and self-assured person, all which she would not have been if I’d allowed the labeling and drugs without looking deeper.

You might enjoy reading Mary Ann Block; she says much the same as Baughman but from an osteopath’s perspective. Her personal experience with the mainstream medical community led her into exactly what you say. Long before any psychiatric diagnosis is rendered, all likely physical tests should be explored for any underlying physical illness that is contributing to discomfort in any situation. And, since so many of the ADHD behaviors are also common to highly intelligent individuals, a good and engaging curriculum is a must :)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.