ADHD is a childhood epidemic. By some estimates, 5 percent or more of the school-age children in the U.S. have been diagnosed, and most of them are being treated with powerful prescription drugs. Scientists have now discovered that a simple, basic human activity-exercise-has the same positive influence on the brain without the negative side effects.This book shows how, in a great many cases, doses of medication can be decreased or eliminated in favor of a regular schedule of exercise, with vast improvements in the quality of life for the children and their families. The author describes in detail the scientific basis for exercise as therapy, how to determine the optimal schedule, and how to help children become motivated to obtain the appropriate level of exercise without parental nagging. If you are the parent of a hyperactive child, this may be the most important book you will ever read.This is not an "anti-Ritalin" book. It has been widely hailed by proponents of both alternative and mainstream physicians and researchers.

Does your child really need drugs to get through the school day? More than six million children in the United States are taking stimulant medications—including Ritalin—to treat behavioral and learning problems such as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But there may very well be a better way to manage your child's emotional and learning problems, and you owe it to yourself and your child to find out. Ritalin-Free Kids offers you a safe, effective, and natural alternative to stimulants.
"Before you give your child stimulants, read this book." —From the preface by Edward Chapman, M.D., clinical instructor, Harvard Medical School
"I recommend this book to all parents searching for an alternative treatment to ADHD. The Ullmans demonstrate that every child can benefit from care tailored to their unique characteristics and temperment." —Charles Moore, M.D., child and adolescent psychiatrist, New England Medical Center
"As a physician who evaluates many inattentive and overactive children, I feel that we, as a society, are using stimulant medications far too often for the treatment of ADHD. I was very impressed by Ritalin-Free Kids and definitely recommend it." —Richard Solomon, M.D., director, Allegheny Behavioral and Child Development Services, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
"This clear, balanced, and persuasive book will really open your eyes to the possibility of homeopathic medicine to treat . . . ADHD and a number of emotional and learning problems." —From the foreword by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., coauthor of Driven to Distraction
Visit the authors' Web site at www.healthyhomeopathy.com.

ducator Chris Mercogliano has been working with hyperactive (ADHD) children for many years at the Free School in Albany, New York, and has developed numerous ways to help these students relax, focus, modulate emotional expression, make responsible choices, and forge lasting friendships-all prerequisites for learning. In Teaching the Restless, Mercogliano uses the stories of six boys and three girls to share valuable lessons, offering a way to work with these children without assigning them labels or resorting to the use of stimulant drugs like Ritalin.

Ever year in the U.S., over two million children are given the drug Ritalin to combat Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Now, Dr. Mary Ann Block shows why Ritalin may be very dangerous to a child's health--and offers parents safer and more effective alternatives. Using thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic, Dr. Block provides powerful evidence that a drug-free approach works.

At Last! A Healthy, Drug-Free Alternative to Ritalin

Nearly one-tenth of all school-aged children in the United States are being coerced into taking mood-altering drugs with side effects that include insomnia, tearfulness, rebound irritability, personality change, nervousness, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, headaches, heart palpitations, and cardiac arrhythmia. These are the children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ritalin Is Not the Answer confronts and challenges what has become common practice and teaches parents and educators a healthy, comprehensive behavioral program that really works as an alternative to the epidemic use of medication-without teaching children to use drugs in order to handle their behavioral and emotional problems.

In the late 1980s, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and its treatment with the drug Ritalin came to national attention and became one of the most hotly debated health issues. That debate continues to rage today. But for the millions of ADHD children, adolescents and adults, it still remains painfully difficult to get clear and authoritative answers to the many questions that this confusing disorder poses. Do I have a correct diagnosis of ADHD? What kind of medication might be helpful? What else can and should I do to help myself or my child deal with this problem?

Now, at last, the authors of Beyond Ritalin, acknowledged experts on ADHD, provide a complete road map and guide for coping with this disorder. Including anecdotal case histories, as well as a complete checklist of ADHD symptoms, charts, work sheets and a comprehensive list of valuable resources and support groups.

In 1998, Dr. Lawrence Diller's controversial bestseller Running on Ritalin sparked a national debate about the ADHD diagnosis and the prescribing of drugs to our nation's kids. Today, Dr. Diller provides a revealing and equally controversial look at the long-term outcomes.

Revisiting former patients, who are now in their twenties, Dr. Diller takes a fresh look at the questions that led him to write his first book, which are even more relevant today:

* When is ADHD a legitimate diagnosis and when is it an oversimplified, harmful label?
* Does Ritalin lead to any good or bad long-term effects?
* Has psychiatry been too quick to medicate-or overmedicate-kids?

Together with his articulate, insightful former patients, Dr. Diller reveals insights into one of the most controversial treatment methods of our time.

Parents, professionals, and anyone who has been prescribed Ritalin will find these reflections illuminating and engaging and Dr. Diller's observations insightful and cogent as they delve into the healing process and answer the question, "How are they doing now?"

This book covers both sides of the debate over amphetamine prescription and use. It discusses the history of amphetamine and related stimulants; ADHD and the use of Ritalin and Adderall to treat it; related neuroenhancers; methamphetamine from Desoxyn to crystal meth; the nature of addiction and side effects; sociological effects of amphetamine compounds; and expert opinions for and against amphetamine use.

• ISBN13: 9780553379068
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In a book as provocative and newsworthy as Listening to Prozac and Driven to Distraction, a physician speaks out on America's epidemic level of diagnoses for attention deficit disorder, and on the drug that has become almost a symbol of our times: Ritalin.  

In 1997 alone, nearly five million people in the United States were prescribed Ritalin--most of them young children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.  Use of this drug, which is a stimulant related to amphetamine, has increased by 700 percent since 1990.  And this phenomenon appears to be uniquely American: 90 percent of the world's Ritalin is used here.  Is this a cause for alarm--or simply the case of an effective treatment meeting a newly discovered need? Important medical advance--or drug of abuse, as some critics claim?

Lawrence Diller has written the definitive book about this crucial debate--evenhanded, wide-ranging, and intimate in its knowledge of families, schools, and the pressures of our speeded-up society.  As a pediatrician and family therapist, he has evaluated hundreds of children, adolescents, and adults for ADD, and he offers crucial information and treatment options for anyone struggling with this problem.  

Running on Ritalin also throws a spotlight on some of our most fundamental values and goals.  What does Ritalin say about the old conundrums of nature vs.  nurture, free will vs.  responsibility? Is ADD a disability that entitles us to special treatment? If our best is not good enough, can we find motivation and success in a pill? Is there still a place for childhood in the performance-driven America of the late nineties?


From the Hardcover edition.

Diagnoses for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have escalated dramatically over the past few years, and right along with these diagnoses have been prescriptions for Ritalin. Considered a family-saving wonder drug by many parents, Ritalin gives children who have trouble in school or difficulty socializing (due to poor impulse control) the ability to slow down, focus, and behave. Success stories abound, but not everyone is convinced.

Pediatrician and family therapist Lawrence H. Diller thinks it's time to reexamine the ADD "epidemic" and our responses to it, particularly our eagerness to use medication as a first strike. In Running on Ritalin, he poses many thoughtful questions: Are behavioral problems in over 15 percent of elementary school-age boys really the result of neurological aberrations? Is performance pressure so great that parents seek out ADD diagnoses (and Ritalin) to give their children an edge? Does it make sense to give so many kids daily doses of a drug with as much potential for abuse as speed? His answers are equally thoughtful. Refusing to polarize the issues (he prescribes Ritalin to some of his own patients), Diller explores the roles played by advocacy groups, drug companies, schools, and the government in creating the ADD mania, and makes a plea for calmer thinking about behavioral problems. He can only hope that adults take the time to sit down and pay close attention. --Rob Lightner