By Tom DeWeese
Why is America suddenly
experiencing an explosion of new mental diseases and disorders never heard of
thirty years ago? Why are children seemingly out of control, refusing to listen
to parents and teachers, even driven to violence?
Here are two possible
reasons to consider. First, it is apparent the psychology industry isn’t
opposed to simply making up diseases and disorders if there is money to be made.
Second, some research is suggesting that many of the growing diseases and
disorders could actually be side effects of the drugs psychologists are pouring
into children to "cure" their made-up diseases.
Does that sound harsh or
far-fetched? Consider these facts. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are complete frauds. There is no
scientific evidence whatsoever to prove either exists. Yet, today, almost seven
million children have been diagnosed as being ADD or ADHD. And most have been
placed on a behavior-altering drug called Ritalin, which is supposed to be the
miracle answer to a non-existent problem.
THE
ROOTS OF ADD/ADHD
For the past several
years schools have had a problem. Some children can’t seem to concentrate on
their studies, can’t sit still, can’t stay quiet or can’t keep their
attention on any specific activity. At home, parents find the same children to
be a disruption in the household. Sometimes the children become violent,
certainly uncontrollable.
Clearly something is
wrong. Children have been taken to doctors for medical exams. Nothing chemical
or physical has been found wrong with them. No brain tumors, no epilepsy, no
multiple sclerosis nor any of the known neurological disorders have been found
in the children. Schools need answers. Parents need answers. Psychologists need
to prove their credentials. So, in the dark, blind as bats, action has been
taken.
Dr. Fred A. Baughman, a
leading expert and critic of the ADD theory, explains the steps the psychiatry
establishment took to create an answer, and establish a name, for what they
believe inflicts the children. Says Dr. Baughman, "They (a committee of the
American Psychiatric Association, APA) made a list of the most common symptoms
of emotional discomfiture of children; those which bother teachers and parents
most, and in a stroke that could not be more devoid of science or Hippocratic
motive – termed them a ‘disease.’ Twenty five years of research, not
deserving of the term ‘research,’ has failed to validate ADD/ADHD as a
disease."
To date, there has never
been issued a single peer-reviewed scientific paper officially claiming to prove
ADD/ADHD exists. Nor has there ever been a single bit of physical evidence to
confirm the disease exists. So-called experts on the subject have refused to
answer the simple question, "is ADD/ADHD a real disease?" Medical
researchers charge that ADHD does not meet the medical definition of a disease
or syndrome or anything organic or biologic.
One piece of speculation
ADD "experts" cling to is MRI brain-scan research conducted by Dr. F.
Xavier Castellanos of the National Institute of Health. According to his
research, suspected ADD/ADHD victims show a consistent but moderate shrinkage in
three key parts of the brain, thus causing the erratic behavior and consequently
proving the existence of ADD/ADHD. Castellanos’ research has been grabbed up
by ADD experts in conferences and in written studies for several years. Others
have used similar tests with matching results. Desperate to grab hold of any
shred of evidence which could back up the official ADD position, psychologists
and policy makers used Castellanos’ findings to establish medication and
therapy treatment for suspected ADD/ADHD patients. Consequently, the
"epidemic" of ADD/ADHD has grown from 500,000 cases in 1985 to almost
7,000,000 in 1999. In most cases Ritalin is prescribed to control the disorder.
There is only one problem
with the conclusions found in Dr. Castellanos’ findings. At least 93% of the
children used in his research had been on long-term stimulant therapy, usually
Ritalin. Likewise, the other tests also used long-term Ritalin-treated patients.
According to Dr. Baughman, what the tests proved again and again was that
Ritalin was causing the brains to shrink – not ADD.
In truth, no one in the
medical profession or in government regulatory agencies will stick their necks
out and pronounce ADD/ADHD as a real disease. To the contrary, in a series of
letters to Dr. Baughman they have said the exact opposite. In 1994, Paul Leber
of the Food and Drug Administration said, "As yet no distinctive
pathophysiology for the disorder has been delineated." In 1995, Gene R.
Haislip of the Drug Enforcement Administration said, "We are also unaware
that ADHD has been validated as a biologic/organic syndrome or disease." In
1998, James M. Swanson of the University of California, and leading ADD
advocate, said in conference, "I would like to have an objective diagnosis
for the disorder (ADHD). Right now psychiatric diagnosis is completely
subjective." And even Dr. Castellanos, in spite of his extensive research,
said in 1998, "I agree that we have not yet met the burden of demonstrating
the specific pathophysiology that we believe underlies this condition."
In spite of the lack of
evidence for the existence of ADD/ADHD, its advocates continue to march forward,
helter-skelter, issuing prescriptions for drugs like Ritalin with little concern
for the long-term consequences it may bring to the patients. Russell Barkley
sees Ritalin as the medical triumph of the century. Barkely boldly states,
"…once convinced of an ADHD diagnosis, there’s no compelling reason to
avoid Ritalin." As Dr. Baughman explains, "Their ‘diseases’ are
theories in perpetuity. As long they believe and as long as the drugs are
prescribed, that’s all that matters."
FOLLOW
THE MONEY
When things don’t seem
to make sense, it’s been advised many times to "follow the money."
That would be sage advise in the search for the truth about ADD. There is lots
of money worth following.
Since ADD was invented by
the APA, psychiatric hospitalizations to private hospitals have tripled.
Admissions of children and adolescents to private psychiatric hospitals jumped
from 16,735 in 1980 to 42,502 in 1986. Irving Phillips, MD and professor of
psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco says, "Patients
are hospitalized for periods consistent with their insurance coverage and
discharged with diagnoses that question whether hospitalization is
appropriate."
Insurance healthcare
fraud is a $60 to $80 billion a year business. And the psychology industry has
been very creative in finding ways to cash in. But it’s only the tip of the
iceberg when seeking to calculate the massive ADD/ADHD-related profits flowing
into the coffers of the industry.
The greatest source of
new growth for the psychiatric industry is the schools. As education
restructuring grew into a full-blown behavior-modification assault designed to
change the attitudes, values and beliefs of the children, a key element to the
process was to turn healthy children into "patients." By diagnosing a
child to have a mental disorder like ADD/ADHD the school could gain federal
funds. It’s a growth industry.
In 1965, the passage of
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), education changed education
forever as the seeds for today’s massive restructuring -away from academics to
behavior modification - began. It was psychology’s crowning moment. The ESEA
allocated massive federal funds and opened school doors to a flood of
psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and the psychiatric programs and
testing needed to validate them. The number of educational psychologists in the
U.S. increased from 455 in 1969 to 16,146 in 1992. As of 1994, child
psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors and special educators in and around
U.S. public schools nearly out-number teachers.
In 1991, eligibility
rules for federal education grants were changed to provide schools with $400 in
annual grant money for each child diagnosed with ADHD. That same year the
Department of Education formally recognized ADHD as a handicap and directed all
state education officers to establish procedures to screen and identify ADHD
children and provide them with special education and psychological services. As
a result, the number of ADD/ADHD cases soared again.
Today more than 7,000,000
children have been labeled, stamped and registered as permanent patients of the
school system. 10 to 12 percent of all boys between the ages of 6 and 14 in the
United States have been diagnosed as having ADD. One in every 30 Americans
between the ages of 5 and 19 years old has a prescription to Ritalin.
Psychologists have never had it so good. The federal trough has been very good
for their industry.
With more than half of
those 7,000,000 children also prescribed Ritalin, the stock-market value of its
manufacturer, the Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, has also soared. Now
that company and others are working to introduce a host of new drugs into the
classroom, including Prozac and Luvox, which has just been approved by the Food
and Drug Administration for pediatric use. Now the industry is looking to even
greater growth as pre-school toddlers are being targeted by the pill brigade.
The use of psychotropic drugs, like anti-depressants and stimulants, in
2-to-4-year olds doubled or even tripled between 1991 and 1995. The federal
trough has been very good to the pharmaceutical industry, as well.
IT
TAKES A VILLAGE TO DESTROY A CHILD
The federal trough has
been good for the education industry, too. Schools are awash with federal funds
to build in-school clinics where children will be analyzed, diagnosed and
treated for whatever disease they care to make the flavor of the day. It’s in
the schools where the system will make sure the children are properly cared for,
out of sight and questions of the parents.
Beyond the available
funding, there is also a side-bonus for the schools. If a child has a learning
disorder, the schools can’t be held responsible for the fact that the student
can’t learn. Bad teachers, failed curriculum and federal programs can’t be
blamed for the failure of the student to learn. They’ve created an efficient
system to protect themselves. It works like this: If a child has trouble with
math, he is deemed to have a mental disorder under code number 315.1 -
"Mathematics Disorder;" If the child can’t write literature
composition she must be suffering from code 315.2 - "Disorder of Written
Expression;" If the student can’t read then he is obviously suffering
from code 315 - "Reading Disorder." As stated, the whole industry is
well protected – and well paid.
So the schools join in
full cooperation with the psychologists to label millions of children with
learning disorders. Teachers, with no medical credentials, serve as the
unofficial recruiter and perform "pop-psychology" in the classroom to
decide what children might have ADD.
Johnny is in the fifth
grade, but only reads at a first grade level. Not the school’s fault. Johnny
must be "dyslexic" or could have ADD. The teacher now becomes a brain
diagnostician who decides who will be tested and who will be referred for
special education or who is uneducable without Ritalin. The teacher reports
these "findings" to the school administration and the wheels of
control begin to turn against the child and the parental control.
Woe be the child or
parents who dare resist. The "team" now convenes – all for the good
of the child, of course. The weight of consensus is brought to bear. Woe be the
doctor who doesn’t agree with the findings. One who does will be found. Once
treatment has been decided, the drugs are issued and the team is increased to
include in-home social workers and the in-school clinics. The child is now
community property. Now you know the true meaning of the term "it takes a
village," and the process to make it so.
POISON
IN A CHILD’S SYSTEM
Psychologists will lie to
you. They will tell you that Ritalin is not addictive. It is. It affects the
mind. It affects the body. It can cause depression. The reaction to Ritalin by
the brain is exactly the same as that of cocaine, except cocaine is shorter
acting. It changes the child. Research is showing that Ritalin use is a common
factor among many of the students who have walked into their schools and opened
fire, indicating that Ritalin brings children to violence.
Children are dying from
Ritalin use. According to Ritalin critic, Dr. Baughman, of 2,993 adverse
reaction reports (AR) concerning Ritalin listed by the FDA from 1990 to 1997,
there were 160 deaths and 569 hospitalizations, 36 of them life-threatening.
Ritalin is known to cause cardiac arrhythmia, tachycardia and hypertension.
Research has proven that Ritalin and other amphetamines can interfere with body
phospholipid chemistry (complex fat), causing the accumulation of abnormal
membranes visible with an electronic microscope.
Ritalin is early training
to introduce children to drug abuse. Today, Ritalin is fast becoming the drug of
choice by college students who were brought up on it. Reports from college
campuses across the nation indicate that Ritalin use has become as popular as
Coca Cola and coffee as a study aid.
A black market for
obtaining Ritalin without a prescription has developed on some campuses.
"People will pay $5 or $6 for one pill," says a sophomore at Trinity
College in Hartford, Connecticut. To increase its potency, some students have
started to crush Ritalin and sniff it like cocaine. After the "buzz"
wears off, students report side effects of melancholy, lethargy, dry mouth, loss
of appetite and inability to sleep.
Some parents report that,
in the beginning Ritalin, seems to help children focus and begin to learn. But
there is evidence that, over time, the drug builds up in the system causing
depression and violent mood swings. In many cases, after being on the drug for
several years children actually forget how to live without it. If taken off the
drug they have reported feeling lost, frightened, even paranoid. This can lead
the child to eventually experimenting with illegal drugs in an attempt to
"feel normal" again. Research has shown that children on Ritalin are
three times more likely to develop a taste for cocaine. So as the psychologists
continue to invade the classrooms in ever increasing numbers, ask yourself why
the drug culture is growing by ever-larger numbers through ever- younger
children.
WHAT’S
WRONG WITH THE CHILDREN?
If ADD/ADHD is not a real
disease, then why the sudden epidemic of students unable to learn and unable to
control themselves? What’s wrong with the children? A lot of parents don’t
really want to know the answers to these questions. A disease or disorder is so
much easier to accept.
Dr. Lawrence Diller,
Author of "Running on Ritalin" puts the problem in perspective
when he says, "Settling for Ritalin says we prefer to locate our
children’s problems in their brains rather than in their lives."
Consider how many modern
families live. Both parents must work to maintain the lifestyle in the suburbs.
That usually means that the whole family is up before dawn, dressed and fed. The
children are dropped off at day care or school and the parents may then commute
for as many as two hours each way to work. In the afternoon, children may leave
school only to head to after-school day care to be picked up after dark by one
harried parent. The family may then reassemble at home or meet in a restaurant
for dinner. Once home, the tired children may attempt to do some homework. Soon
the entire family will fall into bed for an exhausted sleep only to do it all
again the next morning.
Where is the
"quality time" needed by each child? Where is the opportunity for the
child to just curl up in mommy’s comforting lap to find security? Everything
must be organized, scheduled, rushed. Children feel the loss, and they take
action for attention. They misbehave, they cry, they become defiant, aggressive.
The parents seek answers and relief to the family turmoil.
The school, which is also
experiencing the child’s defiance and aggression, seeks relief. Enter the
school psychologist who provides the convenient answer. The child is ADD. Short
term relief can come from a wonder drug called Ritalin. As a result, the real
root of the behavior problems are suppressed and hidden as the child enters a
drug- induced stupor. He seems to calm down, perhaps his grades even improve for
a while and the problem seems to be solved.
There is more feeding the
problem. School restructuring has centered around an assault on student values.
Students are told in many classrooms that there is no right or wrong. Students,
we are told, should not be told what to do. They should be allowed to experiment
and "find themselves" on their own.
Hillary Clinton wrote in
her book "It Takes a Village," that corrective discipline
isn’t encouraged at all, In fact, if a parent has to tell a child no, then the
parent has already failed as a parent. According to Hillary, a child’s ability
to self-check comes naturally, when not undermined by critical, controlling
parents. "If (kids) have supportive and caring adults around them, they
pick up the social clues that enable them to develop self-discipline and
empathy." In other words, Hillary Clinton is telling parents that children
will basically raise themselves, with a little guidance from "the
village."
Parents, near
desperation, believing what they are told about the "modern" way to
raise a child, refuse to interfere with their growth. Spanking is now termed
child abuse and parents can even be arrested if someone in the village decides
to be a "hero" and turn in their neighbors.
What’s wrong with the children? Basically the children have started to show signs of insanity because the system raising them is nuts.