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Ritalin:Helpful or Hurtful
by Marijane
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As you probably already know, Ritalin is a prescription drug used to treat hyperactivity and ADD in children and some adults. What you probably didnt know, in my opinion, is that it causes more negative effects than good. Though it may help with hyperactivity and loss of concentration, it long term effects are devastating. Ritalin has been known to make a child more irritable rather than having a calming effect. It can also cause high intensities of insomnia. Some of the side effects include sadness and depression, social withdraw, flattened emotions,loss of energy, growth suppression, tics, nausea, headache, stomcahache, and psychosis. Many children claim that while on Ritalin they feel weird and out of touch. In my opinion I consider Ritalin to be more of a gateway drug than marijuana. For instance, Bradley Nowell of the band Sublime, was prescribed Ritalin as a child. As an adult, he was a heroin addict, along with being influenced by many other drugs. Once again in my opinion, I believe that the introduction of Ritalin to his system had a lot to do with the addictions he acquired as an adult. I dont want this example to be misconstrued as a exact definition of the negative effects of Ritalin, just an example. Once tolerance is built to this drug, how long before they go to find the next best "high"? Not only that, but even the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) classifies Ritalin as a Class 2 drug, which includes morphine, sedatives, and othe psychostimulants or prescription drugs which have addicting effects. I would recommend Goodman and Gilmans "The Pharmaclogical Basis Of Theraputics". In this book it states that Ritalin is "structurally related to amphetamine" and that "pharmacological properties are essentially the same as those of amphetamines". Also the long term effects of Ritalin generally defeats the purpose of taking the perscription in the first place. They include loss of attention, depression, irritability, and loss of memory. The main occurance of this is the tolerance that is built as with any amphetamine or dextroamphetamine. Peter Breggin M.D. wrote it best in his book "Toxic Psychiatry: Suppressing The Passion Of Children". So to any parents reading this whose child is on Ritalin or and other medications for ADD or ADHD, please reconsider. There has been many medical advances with this illness, trust me this medication is not the answer.
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