Attention Deficit

Is there a trend here or much ado about nothing?

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise created quite a stir recently in his heated debate with NBC Today Show anchor, Matt Lauer.  Cruise proposed that psychotropic drug use, especially the drugging of children was unnecessary and immoral. Following suit, Sebastian Sainsbury of the Sainsbury family (one of Britain’s wealthiest and most respected families known for it patronage of the arts, and its commercial and political influence) spoke to United National Newspapers:

"As a parent of two young children, I hold an inherently responsible position for the welfare of my children. Following some of the recent media and speaking with other parents, I feel the need to extend that responsibility to encompass a wider sphere by informing parents of a situation that could potentially affect all children."

"I’ve come across recent FDA warnings that I have found quite chilling. Ritalin, an amphetamine classified in the same category as cocaine, has been used for over four decades by psychiatrists and doctors, over much controversy and now the FDA comes up with black-box labels warning parents of side effects that include suicidal tendencies, hallucinations, aggression, violent actions, heart failure. The FDA has also recently issued black-box warnings on all anti-depressants both for children as well as adults."

"We have all witnessed children being somewhat argumentative, perhaps a little boisterous and even disruptive at times. This would be described as poor behaviour, just as it has been described for centuries. However, these behavioural characteristics have been redefined by today’s psychiatrist as a mental disorder called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD."

"ADHD was literally voted into existence eighteen years ago when the American Psychiatric Association (APA) by a show of hands. A show of hands was enough to see ADHD enshrined in the psychiatric textbook, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). They also created "Reading Disorder", Oppositional Defiance Disorder", "Expressive Language Disorder", "Mathematics Disorder" and a litany of similarly ridiculous disorders by the same show of hands. The treatment for these disorders are drugs."

"Psychiatrists are telling parents, whose children may be displaying poor behaviour, that their child has so-called ADHD due to a "chemical imbalance" in the brain. A parent would be prudent to ask the psychiatrist for evidence to support the claim of a "chemical imbalance". If they did ask however, they’d find that the evidence would not be forthcoming – as it doesn’t exist."

Psychiatrist David Kaiser said, "Patients [have] been diagnosed with "chemical imbalances" despite the fact that no test exists to support such a claim, and … there is no real conception of what a correct chemical balance would look like." The words of the President of the APA should also be noted. Mr. Steven Sharfstein said, "We do not have a clean-cut lab test [to detect chemical imbalances in the brain]." How then would the psychiatrist know when the child has recovered?"

"Poor behaviour is empirical, but the purported cause for such behaviour is usurping the inherent rights of both the child and the parent. Environmental factors of the child need to be addressed rather than prescribing powerful psychiatric drugs on the basis of a subjective decision that is entirely unsubstantiated. Current figures from the Prescription Pricing Authority for England and Wales reveal that in 1991, the number of prescription items for psychiatric drugs commonly prescribed for children labeled with ADHD were 2000. In 2004, that figure had risen astronomically to 359,100. Remember, this is for a so-called "disorder" that has never been scientifically validated."

"As with all problems in life, we pursue the avenues of knowledge open to us to find the solution. As far as poor childhood behaviour goes, parents want only the best for their child, a corollary of being a responsible parent, and will look high and low for those solutions. Consider this: a study carried out last year by Professor John Warner, Professor of Child Health at the University of Southampton, revealed the adverse reactions that food additives were having on behaviour. The incredibly talented Jamie Oliver has demonstrated through his series Jamie’s School Dinners that changing a child’s diet can bring about a desired change in behaviour. And educational psychologist Dr Madeleine Portwoodhas demonstrated that essential fatty acids, a natural organic product, produced improvements not only in childhood behaviour but in academic performance as well."

"We are in the 21st Century, full of technological advancements that defy science. If however we consider the psychiatrist to be the custodian of poor behaviour, we are bowing to a profession that masquerades as technically advanced, but which in reality could be called nothing more than a pseudoscience at the behest of the pharmaceutical industry."

"The ramifications of being a poorly behaved child in this contemporary society are too gruesome to comprehend."