Truth in this book by valid repudable psychiatrist

books:


	• The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You Peter Breggin Da Capo Press, 2002 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Truth in this book by valid repudable psychiatrist

I have known people with children put on drugs like Ritalin since grade school. In high school they were worse and got more diagnosis to last a life time. The parents say they have been compliant on medication and it keeps getting worse and worse and they only get more meds. and diagnosis and the parents can hardly go out of the home without concern for what their children may do.

This book helps many. Those who like the drugs are just speculating and don't listen to the stories of how hyperactive children are helped and recover without meds.

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Be a good parent

After reading this book you will not be ready to inspire world peace, end world hunger, or even balance your own check book. However, you will be a better parent for taking the time to educate yourself about a critical topic. The easy answer is to cave into an educator's diagnosis that your child is ADHD and get a prescription to dope your child. The educators are motivated to neutralize your child if they pose any teaching challenge. And what doctor won't write prescriptions?

Everything that Dr. Breggin writes will not work for your child. However, traditional doping may not be right for your child either. Be a good parent, do your own research and follow your instincts. In conducting my own research, I found a father who lost his daughter to Ritalin - suicide. I Googled him and found his phone number. During our discussion, his most memorable statement was that he should have followed his instincts and taken her (daughter) off the Ritalin.

None of the expert opinions should replace your parental instincts! Read contradictory pieces to formulate your own position. Without the courage of Dr. Breggin and others like him, we would only get to read the pharmaceutical industries position.

Finally, regarding the input from "A Reader", who is the quack? The commentator refers us to "Quackwatch" to uncover some discrepancies regarding Dr. Breggin. However, what you find is that Dr. Breggin is guilty of his biased opinion. Just as the author of Quackwatch has his own bias. Additional Googling uncovered that the author of Quackwatch (Dr. Barrett) has also had his credibility challenged. As posted on the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation web site, "under a heated cross-examination ... Barrett conceded that he was not a Medical Board Certified psychiatrist because he had failed the certification exam." Maybe "A Reader" should have read a little more!

Read Breggin's books along with the books of other authors. More importantly speak with other parents and learn from their challenges. Also, is your child just like you? Did you need doping? If not, why does your kid? Use a little logic and common sense.

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Breggin is onto Something Here

I'll speak up in defense of Breggin -- he's trying to tell readers to be aware of Ritalin, unlike the so-called "ADHD" experts who have financial ties to the industry. He has your child's interest at heart. Another must-read is ADHD FRAUD by Baughman and Cohen.

This is a MUST read!

We were in the process of getting our child diagnosed with ADHD, and, after reading all the "standard" ADHD books, I decided to read a book from the "other side" - I like to keep an open mind.

This is the first book that I have read by Dr. Peter Breggin, and I was impressed. He has a name for himself as an extremist, which he is. He also has something as a name for being cruel to children, which I don't think he is, I actually saw a compassion and commitment for children and their problems.

Please let me explain.

He admits in this book that his perspective is a skewered one - that since he treats children who were hurt by Ritalin and other psychiatric drugs, and he sees the ones who have the worst side effects, some of them irreversible, he tends to have a negative view of Ritalin.

But what I really wanted to see was some alternative - great, Ritalin is no good, but what else is there? You can't just take away a solution without at least giving us another solution! And that is where I was, indeed, very pleasantly surprised. He has a chapter on what to do to help your child without Ritalin, and it is inspired, it is genius. It is hard to explain his method in this review, I couldn't explain it as well as he does, anyway. I recommend this book just for that chapter alone. And although his method makes sense, the proof is in the pudding - the proof is in the stories of children that he has helped, that he has taught to have self-control, and to be weaned off the medicine.

Now, I would like to put in my own opinion here, if I may. Dr. Breggin is an extremist, and no extremist is ever 100% right. His practice is comprised of children (and adults - although he brings no adult case studies) who reacted badly to the medication they received, and he helps the parents wean them off, etc. In that case, it may be argued that he is really seeing only one side of the coin. He is seeing all the patients who had side effects, some of them *extremely* severe, and not seeing all the patients who were helped, and did well, on medication. It may in fact be argued that the patients he is seeing should not have been on Ritalin in the first place.

I recommend this book, but with one caveat - take this as a warning, not as fact. Not all children who take Ritalin have such severe side effects. Many children who take Ritalin are helped, a lot, with almost no side effects. In fact, some people that I know call Ritalin a wonder drug. But, it IS a psychiatric drug. While it helps tremendously for those who need it, the way that it is being prescribed today - almost like Tylenol - does not say very much for the way we are treating our children. The side effects, when they are there, can be very severe, as Dr. Breggin says over and over again in his book. So my recommendation is first, to make sure that your child really does have ADHD before prescribing Ritalin (you would be surprised at how quickly some doctors will prescribe it with little, or no testing), and second, watch out for the side effects. Most doctors will not tell you what the side effects could be, and what to watch out for, which is why this book is so valuable in that sense. I am also surprised at how many people I have met who say they were prescribed Ritalin and it didn't help. Why in the world did they keep on taking a medication - a psychiatric medication - if didn't even help?

Parents should not be cowed by schools and doctors - if you are a parent, you know your child best. And do not be frightened into giving your child medicine that you don't feel is right for him/her. Also, people will tell you that you should start as soon as you can - the earlier the better, they will say. That is simply not true. Ritalin is not a cure for ADHD, it is simply a drug that will help symptoms. Ritalin does not change anyone's brain long term, only for the amount of time that they are on the drug. So there is no danger in waiting a while - a month - a year - to see if they will outgrow it without the drugs. On the other hand, if your child is totally out of control (I find it hard imagining a five year old so totally out of control that he/she must be put on drugs, but I guess it could happen, although very rarely) then, yes, you must put him on drugs immediately!

This is, I think, the part that this book is missing. True, Ritalin could have side effects. True, most children who are on Ritalin should not be on it, and can be helped with Dr. Breggin's wonderful common sense. But he totally overlooks a small, but essential, percentage of children (and adults) for whom Ritalin is absolutely a life-saver, in every sense of the word!

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be prepared

Dr. Breggin simply dismisses the notion that ADHD, ADD and perhaps autism represent biological states. Instead, he asserts the labels ADD and ADHD are no more than convenient excuses for lazy teachers and parents to commit temporary lobotomies upon their children and/or students. Breggin suggests the ADHD issue can be resolved by simply changing the parent and teacher's behavior . This thesis occupies about 20% of the book.

The other 80% of the book reviews the horrific damage psycho-active drugs potentially cause children. Breggin recounts several cases where Ritalin is given to a normal healthy child who happens to act out at school one day. The drug causes more problems. Before you can say 1, 2, 3; the child is on 5 or 6 psychoactive drugs, displays involuntary ticks, and gets diagnosed with a bipolar disorder or acute early stage schizophrenia. Dr. Breggin saves the day by pulling the child off drugs. and allowing the normal child to reemerge.

Dr. Breggin's logic is hardly compelling, but every parent thinking about giving their child psychoactive medications should read this book very carefully. Breggin may not be much of a neuroscientist, but his warnings should not be ignored. If nothing else, he does a good job of making the warning labels an interesting read. Be prepared.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Known as the "Ralph Nader of psychiatry," Peter Breggin has been the medical expert in countless civil and criminal cases involving the use or misuse of psychoactive medications. This unusual position has given him unprecedented access to private pharmaceutical research and correspondence files, access that informs this straight-talking guide to the most-prescribed and controversial class of psychoactive medications prescribed for children. From how these drugs work in the brain to documented side and withdrawal effects, The Ritalin Fact Book is up-to-the-minute and easy-to-access. With its suggestions for non-prescriptive ways to treat ADD and ADHD, it is essential reading for every parent whose child is on or who has been recommended psychoactive medication.

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