Pocket Wisdom Insights (PWI) invites you to explore the following Co-Lab Blog<\/strong>.<\/em> When the school holidays arrive, Andrea Antunes makes sure her son Ruben, ten, has a break \u2014 not just from classwork, but from the Ritalin pills he takes each day.<\/span><\/p>\n Four years ago, Ruben was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a syndrome which causes hyperactivity, restlessness and inattention. His school told Andrea Ruben faced exclusion unless he took drugs to control his behavior.<\/p>\n The drugs dull his hyperactive tendencies, but Andrea, 37, a mother of two from Norwich, dislikes them \u2014 in fact, she avoids them whenever possible.<\/p>\n \u2018When he is off Ritalin, he will run around, ride his bike, not sit still,\u2019 she says. \u2018But he sleeps and eats better. The drugs keep him wakeful and reduce his appetite.\u2019<\/p>\n Andrea\u2019s reluctance to medicate her son\u2019s behavior unnecessarily seems very wise.<\/p>\n Figures released last week showed prescriptions of Ritalin have quadrupled in the last decade \u2014 from 158,000 in 1999 to 661,463 in 2010 \u2014 with children as young as three taking the powerful medication.<\/p>\n This massive growth comes despite warnings from experts that the more children take ADHD drugs, the more \u2018rare\u2019 but lethal side-effects, such as suicidal thoughts and psychosis, become common.<\/p>\n This human toll was starkly revealed at the inquest last year of ten-year-old Harry Hucknall, who killed himself while on a high dose of Ritalin.<\/p>\n The youngster, a cousin twice-removed of the singer Mick Hucknall, had ADHD. The level of Ritalin found in his system was above the normal therapeutic level and he was also on drugs for depression when he was found at his home in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, in September 2010.<\/p>\n The West Cumbria coroner, Ian Smith, said doctors must be \u2018extremely careful\u2019 in prescribing drugs to ten-year-olds.<\/p>\n \u2018We as a society try to stop children dabbling in street drugs and yet a child with this label of ADHD is prescribed mind-altering drugs of a very powerful nature \u2014 the full consequences of which I do not believe are fully understood,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n The case echoes an earlier tragedy, in 2008, when 15-year-old Anthony Cole hanged himself in his bedroom after his Ritalin prescription was increased. The Milton Keynes schoolboy had been on the drug for six years, having been diagnosed with ADHD at the age of nine.<\/p>\n This week, the Association of Educational Psychologists (AEP) said that in a worrying new trend its members are seeing Ritalin dosages being increased over time.<\/p>\n [..]<\/p>\n \u2018Children who are anxious may misbehave and be fidgety, but those symptoms must not be mistaken for ADHD,\u2019 he says. \u2018The last thing you want if you are feeling anxious is to take a stimulant drug.\u2019<\/p>\n [..]<\/p>\n
\n This blog features parts of an influential and insightful article written outside of the PWI\u00a0Co-Lab<\/strong><\/em>
\n by John Naish<\/strong> on 8 May 2012, published by Dailymail.com<\/strong>.<\/em>
\n We have republished this content in respect of the author\u2019s vision, message and research.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nInformational Insights<\/h2>\n
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Ritalin calms hyperactive children and prescriptions are soaring – but experts warn of serious side-effects and it’s even being linked to suicide.<\/h3>\n