Update: 05 November 2024

Nutritional Option to Psychotropic Medication

Author: Julie Casper, C. Ac.

What's wrong with this picture? 10,000 American toddlers are now taking amphetamine based ADHD drugs. Once a drug is approved by the FDA, doctors can prescribe it to a child (whether or not its been fully tested or approved for use in children). This is true with the SSRI antidepressants (e.g., Prozac®). The numbers of children put on psychotropic drugs continues to rise, along with consequences.

ADHD Drugs Have Never Been Proven Safe or Effective

A recent major review of the clinical trial data for all approved ADHD drugs is important for several reasons. First, it is an admission that there is no medical or scientific proof that ADHD drugs are effective or safe. Secondly, there is abundant evidence to prove that these drugs are dangerous. There are 44 international drug regulatory agency warnings that cite serious or life-threatening side effects. But most importantly, there is no medical or scientific test to show that a child diagnosed "ADHD" is suffering from a medical condition requiring drug for treatment.

The Profit Motive

Public schools have financial incentive to diagnose your children with ADHD and ADD. In 1991, eligibility rules for federal education grants were changed to provide schools with $400 in annual grant money for each child diagnosed with ADHD. As a result, the number of ADHD cases soared. Today more than 7,000,000 children have been labeled and registered as permanent patients of the school system. Ten to twelve percent of all boys between the ages of 6 and 14 in the United States have been diagnosed as having ADHD.12

Schools benefit from ADHD diagnoses

Parents Should be Concerned

The letter that follows comes from a parent concerned about the escalation in the wholesale psychiatric medicating of our children. She brought her five year old son, Michael, to our clinic because his school was pressuring their family to put Michael on psychotropic medication to control "undesirable" behavior. The parents researched the problem then decided to try to address their son's behavior issues with a nutritional approach instead of using the recommended psychotropic drugs.

Three months after begining their son's hTMA mineral balancing protocol, most of the child's behavioral concerns disappeared. In addition, he was doing better in school. However, his teacher did not like the dietary junk food restrictions that were requested of her by the boy's parents. So, against the parent's wishes (and without telling them) the teacher gave Michael sugary pastries for a week along with the other children. This simple-carbohydrate overload put Michael's biochemistry into a tailspin and his behavior improvements reverted with it.

Once his parents found out he had been eating this junk food at school, they appealed to our clinic and we submitted a letter to the school explaining the clinical importance of following the junk food restrictions for Michael. Today, he continues to do well and improve.

Letter from a Concerned Parent

"What a distressing situation. I believe this new generation of psychiatric drugged children will bring waves of disenfranchised and inept adults to our society and will have very far flung consequences for us as a country.

I actually knew the schools receive funding for ‘meds kids’ as I had done research when they pestered us and my husband threatened them with litigation. Interestingly although I sometimes refer to Mike as having ADHD symptoms myself, his pediatrician (who is also a parent of gifted kids) said he did not meet the criteria. She wrote a letter to the school informing them of this and suggested they do an IQ test instead. Reluctantly they administered the test and although Mike did not cooperate fully he scored 131. I've read that many bright kids exhibit behavior that is similar to ADHD, but it is caused by boredom and intellectual precocity and of course, by bad nutrition!

We have had to stand up to them for 3 long years. Parents are made to feel guilty and ignorant if they refuse to go along with the school. Basically it's you, the parent, versus a room full of ‘experts’ who know everything. They were so condescending when I told them about hTMA mineral balancing. If as a parent, you are not a fighter and are uninformed on the issues, they will beat you down and despite your misgivings you will end up drugging your child.

I've read that many bright kids exhibit these symptoms from boredom and a tendency to become over excited and they are usually classed as ADHD or one of the other ‘mental disorders’ that big Pharma has come up with. Of course we never really start hearing about these disorders until there is a new 'wonder drug' to control it. They won't be satisfied until they have a herd of sheep! Sorry for the rant; it's too close to home to be dispassionate."

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Resources
References
  1. How schools are making big money on ADD/ADHD
  2. ADD/ADHD Facts Fight For Kids campaign, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR)
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