Ritalin Debate: Some Experts Doubt Existence of ADHD

Cybercast News Service (CNSNews.com) ^ | April 18, 2003 | Patrick Goodenough

[FreeRadical]

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - The debate over attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the drugging of children diagnosed with it has been rekindled in Australia, one of several countries to have followed the U.S. trend over recent decades.

A youth conference in the eastern city of Brisbane this week was told that no proof has been found that ADHD exists at all.

U.S. psychologist Dr. Bob Jacobs told the Youth Affairs Network Queensland conference that doctors and pharmaceutical companies had turned behavioral problems in children into a disorder.

He voiced concern that misdiagnoses resulted in youngsters being prescribed powerful drugs like Ritalin, which may affect their long-term mental and physical development.

In a radio interview afterwards, Jacobs - who is on the advisory board of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology - said his conclusions had been made as a result of his own observations during many years in practice, working with children and families.

He cited cases where parents reported that their ADHD-diagnosed children could not pay attention - but then those same children could play video games for hours without being distracted.

Sometimes where parents made changes in the way they were doing things, the symptoms would go away.

"A real disease doesn't go away when somebody else does something," he argued.

Jacobs said experts had put labels on different behaviors and called them a disease.

"There's no proof. Nobody has ever presented any evidence of a condition called ADHD, except to say all these children are hyperactive; all these children are inattentive, and therefore they all have the disease. It's the 'and therefore' that I'm concerned about."

Jacobs acknowledged that many parents would disagree with him. Parents tend to believe what has become the mainstream view, in part because the drugs prescribed for ADHD do work in that they make the child more docile and more compliant.

"The child's not getting into trouble at school any more. The child's easier to manage at home, so we say, well this is great, it works."

Also, parents struggling with a behavior problem were made to feel better. Instead of feeling inadequate as parents, they felt they were now struggling with a sick child and doing the best they could.

Money trail

In the United States in 2001, pharmaceutical companies made more than $600 million in profits just on stimulant drugs used for attention deficit disorders.

"If ADHD doesn't exist, those hundreds of millions of dollars in profits go away."

"You have to follow the money," agreed Peyton Knight, legislative director at the American Policy Center, a Virginia-based think tank.

"It's big money," he said by phone late Thursday. "The more diagnoses there are every year the more Ritalin and other mind-altering drugs they are going to be able to market and sell."

Many would vehemently disagree with the arguments against the existence of ADHD, he said.

"But it's never been validated as a disease," Knight said. "It's arbitrary."

"The number of diagnoses has risen exponentially over the past decade. It's not like some epidemic is sweeping the nation like a flu virus. It's just a matter of diagnoses going up because of the popularity of diagnosing children with ADHD," he said.

"In today's society, parents look for the easy way out. If their kids are unruly, we give them a pill and it sedates them. That becomes a very easy thing to do and if a doctor tells them to do this, they feel good about it."

Knight said there was a fairly sizeable grassroots citizens' movement in the United States questioning these issues, and more parents and teachers were becoming aware of the problems.

Unfortunately a similar movement had yet to take hold in the scientific community, although there were some bold specialists who disagreed with the wider-held views.

One of them is neurologist Dr. Fred Baughman Jr., who in a 1998 letter to the then Attorney General Janet Reno, called the representation of ADHD as a disease and the drugging of millions of normal children "the single, biggest heath care fraud in U.S. history."

Massive increase in drug use

According to Baughman, 500,000 children were diagnosed ADHD in 1985 and between 5 and 7 million were today.

Substantial growth has also been reported in Australia, a country of just 19 million people, where it's estimated that at least 50,000 children are now on drugs prescribed for ADHD.

A report in the Medical Journal of Australia last November said Australia and New Zealand have the third-highest rate in the world of the drug use, after the United States and Canada.

Unlike the United States, where Ritalin (methylphenidate) is most often prescribed, in Australia dexamphetamine is more widely used.

University of Queensland figures show that legal use of dexamphetamine in Australia has risen from 8.3 million tablets prescribed in 1984 to 38.4 million tablets in 2001. Over the same period Ritalin prescriptions rose from 1.5 million tablets to 19.3 million.

The federal government early this year approved use in Australia of long-acting Ritalin-LA, which is said to be effective for longer than the usual four-hour period for standard Ritalin.

Rosemary Boon, a child psychologist in Sydney for more than 20 years, acknowledged in a recent article that the drugs were effective in settling the child and this benefited teachers, parents and classmates. But there was little benefit to the afflicted child, she added.

Boon does not argue that ADHD doesn't exist, but says it can be managed with the help of diet, exercise, behavior modification, stress management, identification of "triggers" of the symptoms, and a supportive family environment.

Critics list among the problems with drugs like Ritalin the fact children on them tend not to grow as tall as they might otherwise. There are also concerns that a child's intelligence, creativity and spontaneity may be dampened.

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists says medication should not be the first line of intervention for the vast majority of children. Alternatives should be looked into first.

On its website, Novartis, the pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ritalin, describes ADHD as "a physical disorder caused by differences in how the child's brain works."

Novartis has an article in the April-May edition of its journal, Pathways, arguing for the existence of ADHD.

It quotes Prof. Russell Barkley of the Medical University of South Carolina as saying that ADHD is not overdiagnosed in the United States.

"We have more diagnosis now than before due to better public awareness and greater referrals," he said.

[FourPeas]

Recently I've had to face my skepticism about ADD/ADHD. After visiting his physician reporting difficulty concentrating, my husband was written a prescription for adderall. He frequently studies for and takes technical tests for his job. His performance was suffering. At his physician's appointment, his doctor asked questions: do you have a number of unfinished projects at home? (he has many, many of them); had he recently changed his intake of caffein (he'd removed it completely several months before). Perhaps it's only a "placebo effect", but my husband now reports that he's again able to get his work done.

At our five year-old son's check-up several weeks ago, I barely got my concern about his behaviour out of my mouth before my doctor concurred. It was apparent he's noticed the difference. There's definitely something different about my son. I'm a stay-at-home mom, a strict discliplinarian; my husband holds a regular job; we homeschool, regularly attend church. Although *I* choose not to medicate our son, I can certainly understand why people would do it. I have always, ALWAYS, been almost violently opposed to it but am now finding myself reconsidering. Due to his impulsiveness, my five year-old is having difficulties making friends. For me, it's a nearly impossible call, and much to my dislike, it exists. Call it ADD/ADHD or whatever, there's something different about my son.

[Starrgaizr]

Laz, good for you. I was in denial and then guilt over medicating my kid, but it makes a HUGE difference in his life. I don't let the ideologues bother me about this. No doubt some are needlessly medicated or it doesn't help. That doesn't mean that it's always a bad idea.

[Red Boots]

In the 19th century, when opium was legal in Britain, the best-selling varieties had names like "mother's helper." Opium was used regularly to make kids quiet and polite, the way more designer drugs are used today. When our children were small my mother-in-law told me about this great stuff she had gotten from her Dr as a young mother. "Just one spoonful, and they'd all sleep for 10 hours straight! You've got to get some." I wonder what it was...

[PoisedWoman]

Parents used to really control the sugar intake of children. In those days sugar meant sugar, not sucrose, fructose, corn syrup, aspirtame or anything else. Read the labels if you really want to be alarmed.

Right you are. I was never allowed to have sweets and gave my kids very few. When my kids were tikes, a neighbor, who ran a research lab, reported that they'd given artificial sweetners (used in diet drinks then) to lab rats and the animals developed many diseases. Not cancer, however, which meant that the study would never get reported widely.

I kept my kids off all soft drinks after that, but now my adult son consumes a six-pack of diet Pepsi every day. It's sad when your kids turn out to be jerks, believe me!

[Not Insane]

__Well, I was a 'hyperactive' kid, inattentive, unruly, non-compliant, etc... and I never had to take any pharmaceuticals to change my behavior - and yet, now I am a responsible, well-adjusted adult... __

Me too (as long as they keep the sharp objects away).

[Not Insane]

__There are so many children that have a terrible time controlling behavior.. __

Which became a problem not too long after the schools stopped dispensing "hacks."

Maybe a return to corporal punishment would resolve a lot of this "problem."

And no, I am not kidding.

[Not Insane]

HA, HA. I saw your tag line "entertaining beautiful women since..." and, thanks to my own ADD and a bit of dyslexia, I thought it said "entering..."

'Course I don't really believe in ADD or ADHD (even though an "expert" says I'm classic ADD). And yes, I'm better at video games than anybody I know, especially for a 50 year old.

I think this article is spot on!

[Not Insane]

__...there is an actual neurological problem that is ADHD, that is very painful for the sufferers.__

The doctor in the article says there is no evidence. I'm not taking his side, I'm just wondering, your statement countradicts his. Do you have sources?

[Not Insane]

From the article:

"Jacobs acknowledged that many parents would disagree with him. Parents tend to believe what has become the mainstream view, in part because the drugs prescribed for ADHD do work in that they make the child more docile and more compliant.

'The child's not getting into trouble at school any more. The child's easier to manage at home, so we say, well this is great, it works.'

Also, parents struggling with a behavior problem were made to feel better. Instead of feeling inadequate as parents, they felt they were now struggling with a sick child and doing the best they could."

[longtermmemmory]

the ritalin links to the presribing data indicates it has NOT been studied for children under 6 (six) so the 1-5 year olds who are NOT in school and are not problems to teachers have not been studied.

Parents should fight ritalin tooth and nail. Being prescribed ritalin will exclude the child from military service and a host of other occupations. I don't know if being prescribed ritalin eliminates your second ammendment rights as a mental illness but I am willing to bet the leftist NEA says it does.

Have you told you son about the negatives of aspertame on the brain?

[Sweet_Sunflower29]

In 1980, I was diagnosed with ADD. The understanding and implications of that term was nowhere as extensive as they are today. Had they been, I might have received the type of help which could have helped to learn how to do things such as plan and organize efficently, understand the spatial relationships between actions and their consequences, how to make reasonably thought-out decisions rather then impulsive, spur-of-the-moment ones and why that was important, and how to recognize and understand my need for external stiumli; and how a positive, safe and acceptable outlet was more desired then the dangerous and reckless ones.

For those who may not understand what living with ADHD actually means, here are a couple of informative links which may prove helpful.

ADHD and the Reticular Activating System

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD of the Christian Kind

[Humidston]

I really don't appreciate being called ignorant because I disagree with 99% of the doctors, drug companies, and NEA who are drugging our youth (read mostly BOYS).

Until you've raised a boy who had severe dyslexia, came from a broken home, and was hyper-active WITHOUT MEDICAL INTERVENTION - and he's now a successful, happily married father, I'd suggest you find someone else to call "ignorant."

[Zipporah]

One question re your son.. was he ever on meds?? There is evidence that some of the behavior drugs are implicated in Tourettes syndrome..

[PianoMan]

You mean aspartame, right? I always hear terrible rumors about it but nothing substantive - do you have a link?

[Zipporah]

You may find this interesting:

http://www.breggin.com/methylphen.html

[Zipporah]

Here is some information re Ritalin etc..

http://www.breggin.com/ritalinconfirmingthehazards.html

[longtermmemmory]

I just avoid the stuff. You can type aspartame and danger on a search engine and all the bad stuff pops up.

[PeteyBoy]

I hate to start a war on this but, an awful lot of the cases that I see of kids on these medications are only on them for an SSI check. Not all of them, for sure. But, my small city is full of them. And the school system is broke because of all the special ed and aid it has to give all of these kids. I was shocked to find out how many of our "student athletes" were medicated. Maybe that's why the football team was 1-7 and the basketball team was 3-16.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

My stepson has been diagnosed with ADHD. One interesting bit of info: Once something has his attention, he only focuses on that one thing...everything else is blocked-out completely.

He might also be right brained. And guys tend to be more this way then girls for some reason. (I did it just to be ornery )

Have you read this book? Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World: Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child

Very interesting. I don't agree with everything they teach but there is a lot of good in it.

[Redwood71]

My wife and I parented two with ADHD. Both were placed in hospital confinement along the way, daughter for 6 months and my son for two years. Both now are adults living normal healthy lives.

I believe one of the problems is that a lot of people do not understand what the illness is. In basics, it is the attempt of the body to go to sleep and the efforts of the mind to keep it awake. This causes a comflict that the mind wins by pumping adreneline into the body, thus creating a time bomb inside the child that cannot understand what is happening and does not have the adult skills of its recognition. This is why an adhd child gets uppers. So the body won't try to go to sleep, and the mind will not fill it with human made speed.

During these conflicts, the child hears, sees, and feels everything in a massive, mismash of sound and movement. Everything hits the child all at once, and forces outbursts. Some yell, some are violent, there are many reactions. This is what makes the illness so elusive. There are no solid consistent reactions. Every child is different.

I know this because there is evidense that adhd is hereditary. I know. I had it. In my day it was just called hyper and we were punished for misbehavior. We've come a long way with behavioral mod, and medication. I wish people would do a little research and they would find that this illness can be handled, if caught early, treated, and followed up.

BTW, parents, lots of luck. It will be a lot of tears, and takes a lot of self control and patience. But with the new treatments and drugs moving away from things like Melaril: which when used can makes kids act like zombies, novane: which can lock up muscles throughout the body, and all the other archaic bombshells, things are looking up. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. And please try to find it in your heart not to clobber me for my spelling. A lot of these drugs are in latin and I find plain old english a challenge on occasion.