Ritalin Books

The Ritalin-Free Child: Managing Hyperactivity & Attention Deficits Without Drugs The Ritalin-Free Child provides helpful insight and proven techniques for managing hyperactivity and inattention without the use of medication, while at the same time offering valid, useful suggestions for managing children who are being medicated. A recent recipient of a prestigious Parents' Choice Approval award, The Ritalin-Free Child has helped thousands of parents, guardians, and educators find solutions to everyday difficulties. Hunter addresses real-life issues facing ADHD children and their families both at home and at school. Written in an easy-to-read format in layman's terms, this informative guide is essential reading for those who live or work with hyperactive and inattentive children. Topics covered in the book include the many causes of hyperactivity and inattention, the effects of nutrition, school issues, commonly used drugs, childrens' views on ADHD and drug therapy, and much more.

Recreational Ritalin: The Not-So-Smart Drug (Illicit and Misused Drugs) It seemed like an easy answer. If a child was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder - ADHD - give him Ritalin and all would be better. The answer - and the condition - turned out not to be that easy. "Recreational Ritalin: The Not-So-Smart Drug" provides an overview of ADHD and the drug most often prescribed to treat the condition. This book provides you with a description of other drugs like Ritalin and their effects, good and bad. You will also learn about ADHD and the controversy surrounding its diagnosis and treatment. But Ritalin and other drugs like it have moved out of the classroom and away from their legitimate uses in treating a medical condition. College students and young professionals are now using the drugs to gain that "extra edge" to achieve success. "Recreational Ritalin: The Not-So-Smart Drug" tells their stories as well. You will also discover how Ritalin abuse is being effectively treated.

No Apologies For Ritalin This book takes an in-depth look at attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In his book, the author eloquently educates parents of children with ADD/ADHD about the disorder and available treatments, so they can make informed choices for the care of their children. The first portion of the book describes what is medically known about ADD/ADHD, including causes and diagnostic methods; the second part outlines available treatment options, including Ritalin and other drugs, dietary changes, herbal therapy, and behavior modification. Dr. Gupta's purpose is to help parents of children with ADD/ADHD to stop blaming themselves for their child's disorder and to investigate and use appropriate therapies, including Ritalin and other medications when indicated, without guilt.

No More Ritalin: Treating Adhd Without Drugs Ever year in the U.S., over two million children are given the drug Ritalin to combat Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Now, Dr. Mary Ann Block shows why Ritalin may be very dangerous to a child's health--and offers parents safer and more effective alternatives. Using thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic, Dr. Block provides powerful evidence that a drug-free approach works.

Ritalin is Not the Answer Action Guide: An Interactive Companion to the Bestselling Drug-Free ADD/ADHD Parenting Program Since 1999, parents and teachers have relied on Dr. David Stein's groundbreaking book Ritalin Is Not the Answer as a resource to help them work with hyperactive children who have been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Now the same principles and tools of the acclaimed Caregivers' Skill Program that Dr. Stein outlined in Ritalin Is Not the Answer are present in this easy-to-use companion workbook. Filled with self-tests, specific step-by-step guidelines, checklists, and exercises, Ritalin Is Not the Answer Action Guide offers a healthy, comprehensive behavioral program that has been proven to work!

The paperback edition of the powerful book that shows how restless kids can learn and thrive—without the use of Ritalin

Chris Mercogliano codirects the Albany Free School in Albany, New York. There, he and his faculty have developed numerous ways to help hyperactive children learn without assigning them labels or resorting to the use of drugs like Ritalin.

Teaching the Restless profiles a handful of Free School students, six boys and three girls. All were either labeled and drugged in their previous schools or would have been had they not thrown in their lot with the Free School. While in Mercogliano’s mind there is no such thing as a “typical” child, these nine kids represent the legions of children across the country—estimates currently run as high as 6 million—that have been diagnosed with learning and behavioral disorders and prescribed corresponding drugs.

Speaking both to parents who worry that their kids cannot attend classes without drugs and to educators who wonder how best to teach these hyperactive kids, Teaching the Restless should bring new hope into an overcharged debate.

“Mercogliano makes a strong case against medicating these children into submission . . . While [he] is describing experiences at one particular school, parents all over will find his critique of contemporary education provocative.” —Publishers Weekly

“Teaching the Restless is a very important book for our time. Chris Mercogliano deserves a medal for his courage and insight, as well as his years of hard work on behalf of America’s children.” —Joseph Chilton Pearce, author of Magical Child

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become an epidemic, with an estimated 5 percent of American children now on prescription drug regimens and the numbers increasing at a rapid rate. Meanwhile, the average child gets less exercise than in past generations, thanks to television, video games, and other inactive pastimes.

Putnam, in testing his theories, brought together a wide range of studies, anecdotal evidence, and laboratory research, reaching a firm conclusion that for many ADHD children, an exercise regimen controls the condition as well as drugs-without the unwanted side effects. The result of that research is the new book, Nature's Ritalin for the Marathon Mind: Nurturing Your ADHD Child with Exercise (Upper Access Books, $9.95). The findings include the following:

• Laboratory experiments have established that aerobic exercise has a chemical effect on the brain similar to that of Ritalin and other psychostimulant drugs, and the same ability to help people to focus their minds.

• ADHD has a variety of symptoms and causes, and neither exercise nor drugs is effective in treating all cases. However, in general, the children who respond the best to medication also respond the best to exercise.

• Psychostimulant drugs reduce a child's desire for rough-and-tumble play, thereby decreasing exercise and increasing the dependence on drugs. This can be turned around if activities involving aerobic exercise are worked into the child's schedule.

• While children usually need help from parents and others to become motivated to take up a regular exercise routine, the motivation-once it starts-is self-perpetuating. In other words, once children understand that the exercise regimen makes them feel better, improves social life, helps them with school, and provides other benefits, they pursue it with enthusiasm.

Putnam emphasizes that "This is not an anti-Ritalin book. The benefits of Ritalin and other medications for many children have been well established." He also notes that any change in treatment must be undertaken in consultation with the child's physician. Yet in case after case, he notes that by adopting a regular exercise routine, children have been able to reduce, and often eliminate, medication while improving social and academic life.

In addition to explaining the scientific issues, the book provides details on how to determine the optimum amount of exercise and the optimal schedules, plus numerous suggestions of ways to motivate your children to take up appropriate activities. "Motivation is the tricky part for most kids," Putnam says. "They're not going to exercise just because a parent is nagging them. But once they start feeling the benefits, they'll want to keep it up. Parenting is never easy, and every situation is different. In researching and writing the book, I tried to cover the wide range of situations that parents face. "

Ritalin Nation: Rapid-Fire Culture and the Transformation of Human Consciousness By the year 2000, the USDA predicts that 15 percent--8 million--of our children will be on their way to using Ritalin. In this illuminating investigation of the epidemic of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and its most widely prescribed treatment, the powerful psychostimulant Ritalin, psychologist Richard DeGrandpre sounds a warning: we may well be failing our children by treating symptoms and not causes with a quick-fix and ultimately unsatisfactory solution. Drawing on the latest findings from developmental, psychobiological, and social scientific research, DeGrandpre "criticizes America's obsession with performance and quick satisfaction and the country's reliance on Ritalin [as] a performance-enhancing drug" (Natural Health). He cautions that our society-wide rush to more, and faster, stimulation leaves children especially vulnerable to "sensory addictions." Ritalin Nation exposes the shortsightedness of mere biological explanations of ADD and offers some practical guidelines for cultivating a less-hurried existence and promoting a saner, safer community for our children.

101 Reasons to Avoid Ritalin Like the Plague This book captures the bigger picture of all that is sacrificed with the pivotal decision to put a child on Ritalin or medications. There are so many physical and psychological side-effects that never get mentioned to the parent who is seeking help or being pressured by the school to do something about their child's behavior or poor performance at school. This book fights for the parent to have full disclosure of the truth. Parents are never told: "Oh by the way, once in a while a child dies simply by taking their prescribed medication, or by the way, children on stimulant medications have twice the future rate of drug abuse, or by the way, 1/3 of all children on these medications develope symptoms of obsessive compulsive behavior within the first year. Most doctors don't tell parents these things because they simply don't know. Most doctors get the majority of their information about these medications from the same pharmaceutical companies that have a tremendous vested interest in selling more and more medications each year. Most doctors can't tell parents the truth about the psychological side effects becuase they have no idea that simply giving children these drugs makes it near impossible for the child to deeply believe in themselves and their own power and resourcefulness but rather the child comes to be reliant on the hoped-for power of the medication. Worse, the message to the child is "neither you, nor your teacher, nor your parents, nor we the doctor can handle your intensity, it scares us and we need to make it go away." Thus starts the diabolical inner war between a child and their life intensity. The very life force that all great people tap into now becomes overwhelming and frightening to this child who then spends a lifetime on the run and unable to enjoy the fruits and beauty of their! intensity. The subtitle of this book is: "Including one great reason why Ritalin is almost always unnecessary." The truth is that the author would still be recommending Ritalin himself if he had not discoved an incredibly simple and reliable way to help convert a child's intensity into their source of greatness. An entire section of this book is devoted to describing this method in detail. The icing on the cake is the "supersize me" collaboration between the author and his physician where Ritalin is prescribed in increasing dosages for 10 days and both the author and his doctor journal the surprising results.

Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin: The Science of Amphetamines Amphetamines have had a relatively short, though chequered history. From their use in wartime, their abuse by the beat generation, up to the popularity of Ecstasy in the late 20th century, many have found amphetamines an enjoyable, though unpredictable, stimulant. More than that though, amphetamine-based treatments have been found to have beneficial effects for those suffering from attention deficit disorders, and are now widely prescribed in the US and elsewhere as a treatment for children and adults.
What is the truth behind these medical claims? What are the real effects of stimulants like Ecstasy? Just how harmful are amphetamines?
In this book, a leading authority on psychoactive drugs explores the uses and abuses of amphetamines. Starting with a look at the origins of amphetamines, their use in wartime, their use by poets, musicians - even a President of the US, it presents a fascinating and accessible account of amphetamine use. It examines the evidence for the claims that drugs like Ecstasy kill, and considers the widespread use of amphetamines for ADHD, presenting a thorough account based on science and fact, rather than dogma.

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