The Drugging of Our
Children
Excessive talking, fidgeting, or squirming. Often
loses things. Difficulty remaining seated, playing
quietly, or sustaining attention. Sound like your child?
The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) lists
these as the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder
(ADD), or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
(ADHD). Once diagnosed, these behaviors would make your
child a candidate for Ritalin, Prozac, or both. In this
investigative documentary, acclaimed public health
advocate and filmmaker Gary Null examines the
increasingly common practice of prescribing psychotropic
drugs for children, including preschoolers as young as
age 2 to 4, who have been diagnosed with ADD, or ADHD.
Psychiatrists may write these prescriptions without
first exploring other causes or aggravating factors,
like diet, or environment, and without making it clear
to parents that these medications can have severe
side-effects, including insomnia, loss of appetite,
facial tics, headaches, psychotic symptoms and even
potentially fatal adverse reactions, such as cardiac
arrhythmia. Many schools work with family court systems
to force parents to drug their children, threatening
those who refuse to cooperate with the prospect of
having them taken from the home and placed in foster
care. To some, this looks like institutionalized child
abuse in the name of mental health, whereby active,
naturally inquisitive children are drugged into
submission while the pharmaceutical industry prospers.
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