It's a documentary on Netflix right now. Anyone seen it?
I knew Ritalin was a stimulant like speed from having a misspent youth and getting high with my friends off their prescriptions. Hell, I know mothers who occasionally get into their own kids scripts - get a little pep in their steps.
I was told with both of my boys when they were in the early grades that have ADHD. I didn't buy it for a second. I don't believe that not paying attention to something that bores you is a sign of dysfunction. I also think that the school system is not set up for boys, but that's a different topic. My oldest ended up getting tested for gifted and so he really was just plain bored, and my youngest suffered from a brain injury when he was little that left him with some motor skills problems - neither one has ADHD (whatever that actually means), yet the school and our Dr at the time were ready to put both of them on stimulants. Not to mention the family secret that their mother was a drunk who wasn't on top of things the way I should have been - I'm positive that was a major factor because those were my worst drinking years.
In the doc they talk about how the way they diagnose ADHD is by giving the patient Adderall or Ritalin, and if it works then they know the person has it. The thing is is that stimulants make everyone able to focus better - so they always work. How crazy is that?
It just speaks about how greedy these pharmaceutical companies are to be targeting children with this phony baloney diagnosis - they say 10% of kids, mostly boys, have this condition.
It's a really interesting documentary though, it goes into the history of pharma speed and how they used it during the WW2 and how house wives in the 60's were prescribed it to stay fit and slim. Worth the watch.