Description:
Diagnoses for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) have escalated dramatically over the past few years, and right along with these diagnoses have been prescriptions for Ritalin. Considered a family-saving wonder drug by many parents, Ritalin gives children who have trouble in school or difficulty socializing (due to poor impulse control) the ability to slow down, focus, and behave. Success stories abound, but not everyone is convinced. Pediatrician and family therapist Lawrence H. Diller thinks it's time to reexamine the ADD "epidemic" and our responses to it, particularly our eagerness to use medication as a first strike. In Running on Ritalin, he poses many thoughtful questions: Are behavioral problems in over 15 percent of elementary school-age boys really the result of neurological aberrations? Is performance pressure so great that parents seek out ADD diagnoses (and Ritalin) to give their children an edge? Does it make sense to give so many kids daily doses of a drug with as much potential for abuse as speed? His answers are equally thoughtful. Refusing to polarize the issues (he prescribes Ritalin to some of his own patients), Diller explores the roles played by advocacy groups, drug companies, schools, and the government in creating the ADD mania, and makes a plea for calmer thinking about behavioral problems. He can only hope that adults take the time to sit down and pay close attention. --Rob Lightner
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