I think it should be used as a last resort. Western medicine, as a whole, is too focused on prescribing solutions. Sometimes behavior, diet, or sleep changes can solve problems without chemicals in your bloodstream. That said, I know many people who have been helped by Ritalin, and adderal, and prozac, and all those drugs that are "over" prescribed.
people i know this is an old post,a really old post, but there is harm in takeing ritalin. when i was in 3rd grade they (the doctors) made me take it i devleoped a wight problem an eating disorder and causes you to have short term memerory loss. i remeber nothing of the 3rd grade thank you ritalin!
Can't find your knife, Haley? Well, you left it in my back...... whore
If a child really needs ritalin, he should probably take it, but only if it is best. Nowadays, doctors prescribe ritalin even when kids don't need it, they just need to be disciplined.
Perhaps I should have been a bit more specific. I meant all these so-called "mental disorders" (such as ADD). Obviously, we're both being general, so it's hard for me to comment on each and every little "disorder" and such.
I did not (intentionally) suggest that therapy should be thrown out, so if you took it that way, you're in the wrong. People with panic attacks should be instructed on how to get control of them, not stuffed chock-full of drugs.
quote:do you tell someone who is contemplating suicide to get help, or tell them to just deal with it.
Drawing upon my own experience here: When I was suicidal, it didn't matter what people said to me (be it "get help" or "deal with it" or "good, die, then"). It didn't make me feel any better or any worse than I already did. Now, when I'm faced with suicidals, I encourage them to get help, though help doesn't always come in the form of a psychiatrist or a bottle of Prozac. Again, I'm against mind-altering drugs here, not talking to someone about the way you feel.
Furthermore, I was a very, very, depressed girl, dabbling with self-mutilation and suicide (among other things) for over four years. Yet, here I am now, fairly well-balanced with a desire to live past age 23. I did it without any drugs, even without therapy in general. I am proof that you don't need stuff like that to function well.
quote: ouch. your statement, whether you intended it to or not, suggests that all people using such medications have never tried living a "normal" life without drugs. you're starting to sound condemningly preachy there.
Apparently, you read into it way too far. First off, if I meant people using medications, I would have said "those of you on mind-altering drugs" or something to that degree. When I said "I suggest you all try it" I meant that I suggest you all (as in everyone, regardless of whether they are on meds or not) try living a life where medications for "disorders" don't matter. Live in a world where, when you don't feel right, instead of finding out your "disorder", try to fix what's wrong, or adapt to your new condition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. There are more natural methods of improving your self than drugs. I was highly unstable, I started getting more sleep and drastically lowered my intake of caffiene, magically, I'm more stable. I got depressed, I'd find interesting things to do, or people to be with, or listen/make good music.
Now, I'm not saying that you'd feel better overnight, because I know that's most likely not going to happen. However, through trial and error, you find methods that work for you.
Maybe that's the problem...we're all so afraid to make mistakes that we create situations to control it. Me, I'd rather just make the mistakes.
by that reasoning, we should do away with all antidepressants and anxiolytics. people with panic attacks should just learn to live with it uncontrolled instead of using benzodiaepines.
i will agree that americans have a heavy overreliance upon pharmacotherapy. but i'm not willing to condemn people with neurochemical imbalances that they want changed to a life without the possibility of pharmacotherapy.
your attitude is a bit surprising - do you tell someone who is contemplating suicide to get help, or tell them to just deal with it. pharmacotherapy is an extension of psychosocial therapy - we're tinkering with thought processes that we don't fully understand. that doesn't mean that they're worthless.
quote:I honestly believe it is completely possible to become a "normally" functioning being without using mind-altering drugs. I suggest you all try it.
ouch. your statement, whether you intended it to or not, suggests that all people using such medications have never tried living a "normal" life without drugs. you're starting to sound condemningly preachy there.
I find this rather amusing. Yes, of course Ritalin gives the "desired effect" to "ADHD" or "ADD" children, which in reality are children who tend to be a bit more active that the rest, or perhaps they're the ones who don't want to watch TV like the rest of their peers, and are being punished for it!
The stories on here of how "Ritalin helped me, blah blah, calmed me down, blah blah." That's called a drug induced stupor. Today's "medicines" treat symptoms, not causes, and often create more medical problems for the individual.
I honestly believe it is completely possible to become a "normally" functioning being without using mind-altering drugs. I suggest you all try it.
Oh my gosh. some people on this site are so closed minded. I take ritalin since i was first diagnosed at the age of 4 There is a significant difference in the way i feel about my surroundings and distractions of day to day life. I hate the fact that i need the medication to concentrate but i know that my parents and teachers and family arent putting me on the medication in order to make me different. In some cases it gives me a lift. I get better grades and get along with others more which are very important in the long run!! so before you start mouthing and cussing... at least know what you are talking about!
I think that being hyperactive doesn't necessarily mean someone has a condition and needs to be medicated - isn't hyperactivity something common to a lot of children? I think ritalin should only be resorted to after other ways of behaviour management have been tried and tested. I know if I was a parent I wouldn't like my child to be drugged up just because they find it hard to concentrate. I'd want to try everything else first. My young cousin is really hyperactive and was recommended to try Ritalin - I think now he's on medication, but a different kind. Apparently it's helping him, but to me he always seemed like a very active, but pretty normal kid - I think these days we're finding 'conditions' to describe everything, when maybe it's just part of peoples' regular pattern of development. I don't support the use of Ritalin, or at any rate I don't like the idea. It seems excessively controlling to me. I think it should be certain that a child has a real condition before prescribing medication like that.
All for it, after seeing several kids who have ADHD and where in my mothers 3rd grade class, that didn't take any prescriptions, you really see why they need it. Of course there is various problems in prescribing drugs, number one Ritalin has some how become the miracle drug to save every child who isn't doing well at school. What really is going on is the fact that parents don't want to admit that their children might have problems learning, I guess they see it as a insult to themselves, but a large majority of children have learning problems sometime in their lifes. This is the typical golden pill action, just like for awhile doctors were giving antibiotics to everybody, and then soon the regular antibiotic were not working anymore on people who really needed them because new strains bacteria had formed. Also the reason why you see alot of doctors throwing out prescriptions left and right is because they are afraid of the recent increase of melpractice lawsuits. Im for it, but as long as they get some serious clinical approval for it.
I support the use of meds with children who have severe adhd 100%. I work with the so called behavioral problem children and I like working wiht them more when they take there meds than when they dont.
We have to remember that all drugs/medicines have different effects on different people. The problem is in the lack of investigating for a diagnosis. Let's not slam Ritalin for it. Two of my sisters are on it. One is mildy retarded and ADD. Believe me, she will not learn anytime soon how to conduct herself. Perhaps when she is older. But now, it allows her to focus. The other has a few mental and learning disabilities. It has the same effect on her. Our experiences with it ahve been quite successful so far.
Ah, yes, if you dope up a child, of course they're not going to be such a behavior problem. However, if you teach a child how to conduct himself, and have teachers adequately able to monitor and help children with "behavior problems" suddenly, it all makes more sense.
My cousin, an incredibly creative, talently young man, was put on Ritalin in 7th grade, due to the fact his grades fell drastically. No one bothered to ask him how he was adjusting to middle school, and it turns out, he was having quite a problem with it. Now a senior, he has been off Ritalin since the summer before freshman year and is all the better for it.
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