Green Options

A common prescription for ADHD is a stimulant medication. You’ve probably heard the brand names Adderal and Ritalin.

Problem is, stimulants like these make kids who take them 7 times more likely to die suddenly.

What we found — to our surprise — is that even if you take out confounding factors, the association between stimulant use and sudden death was still significant.

One mother’s frightening odyssey into the world of ADHD and multiple drug treatments for her children highlights the unhealthy relationship between big drug companies and child psychiatry, and the effectiveness of following half-finished studies.

“When a major study said kids with ADHD could benefit from drugs, we gave my son Ritalin. Then he became manic and delusional—and now the study’s researchers say they might have been wrong all along.”

I find two trends in education alarming: the growing number of schools that eliminate recess and physical education programs and the large number of children on Ritalin for attention problems. As a teacher, I can’t help but wonder if the attention problems some children experience is due to the structure and expectations of education and life in the 21st century. Children were not designed to just sit at desks all day long without much opportunity for movement and interaction.

A friend of mine, who also happens to be our school nurse, has a son with ADD.  This child takes rRitalin during the school year; however, during summer vacation, he is drug free.  It is only during the structured, restricted environment of school that this child needs drugs to focus.  Given recent research on the subject, I can’t help but believe recess and play matters greatly for all children, especially those suspected of having attention problems.