Running on Ritalin: A Physician Reflects on Children, Society, and Performance in a Pill

by Lawrence H. Diller

Book Overview

In 1997 alone, nearly five million people in the United States were prescribed Ritalin -- most of them young children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Use of this drug, which is a stimulant related to amphetamine, has increased by 700 percent since 1990. And this phenomenon appears to be uniquely North American: 90 percent of the world's Ritalin is used in the United States. Is this a cause for alarm -- or simply the case of an effective...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553106562
• ISBN13: 9780553106565
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 386 Pages
• Weight: 1.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A book that at least asks the tough questions

This books raises a lot of the questions I had but that I never see addressed elsewhere. It duscusses the fact that Ritalin does not cure ADD. It talks about the dramatic rise in ADD diagnoses and Ritalin prescriptions and discusses possible reasons. It also looks at some of the history and viewpoint of CHADD, the major support group for ADD. And it discusses how family environment and parenting techniques can play into a child's behavior. I think it also makes clear that Ritalin boosts everyone's performance, not just ADD kids or adults, and that the research stating that ADD results from faulty brain chemistry is less than proven. At the same time, the book is also reassutring about the relative safety of Ritalin. And, every case study of his patients he cites seems to include at least a trial of Ritalin, so he is not at all flatly against the drug. He is in favor of looking at the bigger picture of the patient's life, not just writing out a prescription.I think this book is definitely worth a read for anyone with a child who "has" ADD. And if you are someone who wonders why nobody seems to think it is any big deal to put your 6 year-old child on this highly-regulated stimulant drug, then you might feel the same relief I did in reading a book that at leasts asks questions, even if it doesn't have all the answers. Highly recommended.

very informative

This book tells it like it is. For parents not looking for a copout, but for support. As a parent of 2 ADD children (and stepparent of 2 ADHD children) this book makes a lot of sense. He brings up some good points about expecting too much out of our children and looking for ways to make them smarter, better, etc., without putting more time and effort into it. Parenting is a fulltime job, more difficult than any other job. I remember feeling the relief when Dr's told me it was "not their fault or my fault, it is all a medical problem." Well, through the years, I've learned there are things different I can do, and some things I cannot change. We have been able to keep 2 of our kids off Ritalin (it caused bad rebound affects on two, one was zombie-like and one turned into a holy-terror after the medicine wore off everyday). One of our kids may be on it his whole life though, he just cannot function. Unfortunately, the book doesn't come up with a cure, but it also tells you the truth about Ritalin, RITALIN IS NOT A CURE! It does have its place with some children, but in my opinion, it is a bandaid on a bleeding wound

Thoughtful. Cogent. Compassionate.

It's a book for all educated and dedicated parents, grandparents and teens to read. It poses important questions like; why has Ritalin diagnoses increased by 700% since 1994. or why does the US use 90% of the world's Ritalin? You begin to think that maybe it's not a chemical imbalance, but indeed a "living imbalance" as one of Dr. Diller's 10 years old patients says.

He's right; and he explains why!

Dr. Diller is absolutely right. In my medical practice I have had occasion to see kids who are truly ADD/ADHD. But many more kids are simply not able to handle the factory-system of American education in which one or two dozen kids are expected to sit quietly and do nearly nothing most of the time. Who among us wasn't very often bored to tears in school? Well, things haven't changed. In fact, they've gotten worse, and I discovered this through the school of hard knocks with my own daughter. Although she is very strong-willed and, at times, not as focused and attentive as some other children, she is bright, imaginative, and has been reading at pre-college level since before age 9. When we found (and paid for ourselves) the right teacher for her, it made an enormous difference. I am persuaded that, while Ritalin is for some kids who are truly dysfunctional without it, 90%+ of what's being called ADD/ADHD these days is due to the attention deficits of parents and teachers.

A very well written, comprehensive book.

As a self diagnosed ADD adult who is also an Educational Psychologist and a father of two children with a diagnosis of ADD/ADHD and two other children not diagnosed and 6 other "normal" children, I think I may know of what I speak. One of the reasons I like this book is it agrees with so much of what I have researched, both professionally and privately, and have formed an opinion about. I just wish it was in a form that more people could use. I think it should be in the "must have" list of anyone who deals in anyway with this thing call ADD/ADHD.