Ritalin for your Preschooler

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, better known as ADHD, affects anywhere between 3% and 10% of children in developed countries. 60% of children diagnosed with ADHD continue to exhibit symptoms as adults.

I think this is a serious problem. Crazy kids. Fussy kids. All-around nutty kids. This is quickly becoming an epidemic and it must be stopped. I think we should start giving ADHD drugs to our preschoolers so that we can banish this abhorrent behaviour.

Wait a sec...what the heck am I saying??? Okay, so I was joking about giving drugs to our preschoolers and trying to be sarcastic. But guess what...a U.S. government study shows that 'some preschoolers can use Ritalin'. This is messed up.

"We're not talking about fidgety three-year-olds," said Insel, whose agency funded the study. The research involved children with severe cases of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder — cases that included hanging from ceiling fans, jumping off slides or playing with fire.

Do these children really need meds to turn them into long term drug users? I really don't understand why there is no government study that shows the ROOT CAUSE to why our children are 'hanging from ceiling fans'. The following excerpt from the Physician's Desk Reference makes it easy to see why Ritalin is so controversial:

RITALIN DRUG WARNINGS: "Sufficient data on safety and efficacy of long-term use (greater than 24 months) of Ritalin in children are not yet available ... suppression of growth (ie weight gain, and/or height) has been reported with the long-term use of stimulants in children. Therefore, patients requiring long-term therapy should be carefully monitored."

Hmm...is this just another pharmaceutical scam? Could it be a 'get your kids hooked on OUR drugs so that they have to buy OUR drugs throughout their lifetime'?

"This is a catastrophe. It just opens up the way for drugging the younger kids," said Dr. Peter Breggin, a New York psychiatrist and longtime critic of psychiatric drug use in children.

I think what we need to do is to reveal the truths about drugs and how they SHOULD play a role in society. Don't get me wrong; I truly do believe that pharmaceutical drugs have their place. But what I DO believe is that these drugs shouldn't be so easily and quickly dispersed without looking into the root cause of the problem. If you have headaches all the time and you are taking drugs to supress the discomfort and pain, why don't you just figure out WHAT is causing the headaches in the first place? The drugs only make things worse in the long run.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/10/20/ritalin.html

So, what do you think? Leave me some comments!