I would like to address the subject of medicating students at the school’s “request” or demand is more like it. This is our family’s experience.

My 12-year-old grandson is ADHD and does have some social and some behavioral issues. We are well aware of his issues and do not try to dismiss them. The school has tried to insist that he be medicated. His mother has refused to medicate him because of the damage from the ADHD drugs to his older brother. This has been explained many, many times to the school personnel.

The side effects of the drugs, Concerta, Strattera, Ritalin and Seroquel vary and the intensity varies from person to person. My older grandson who has taken these various drugs has had severe reactions to them. Some of his reactions are delusions, paranoia, the need for higher doses consistently, mood swings, and when the doses were changed to higher levels, uncontrollable anger. My daughter’s refusal to medicate the younger son stems from the reactions of her older son to the drugs.

When the school was told no, they constantly asked the child if his mother had taken him to the doctor and told him he needs to be medicated. It is very sad that a child comes home and tells his parent that he needs to be medicated. In response to her refusal and the arguments that ensued over the issue, the school has exacted what in my opinion is revenge on the child for his mother’s decision to do what she believes is best for him in the long run.

They put in place a discipline plan that my daughter did not approve of or sign but it didn’t matter. I understand that some of detentions were deserved but I disagree with the nitpicking. Examples and these are just a few: Forgetting a pencil, being early to class, being put in detention for not spitting out gum when in fact the child had and the proof was in the trash can, telling another person that they don’t want him around and he can hear it. The detentions for these silly nitpicking items added up and have created a real problem on the child’s record.

The real topper for me is the fact that they allowed him to sign up for an overnight camping trip and then decided my grandson could not go because of his record and missing assignments. How strange when we checked online to see if there are any missing assignments, they show as completed.

There are many more details to this situation. The bottom line is that they have humiliated, belittled him openly and made this child feel very unwanted. No child reacts well to this type of treatment, no child deserves this. I believe that the school lacks education in some of these disorders and needs some training. If trained properly they would be able to identify that the social, behavioral issues and learning disabilities are a part of the complex disorder and there are better ways to handle the problems.

I would be curious to know how many children are medicated and how many times the school recommends the medication because it makes the staff’s life easier. They have no concept of the long-term effects of the drugs. They are not doctors. I would also be interested in knowing how many others had experiences like this.

I am sure that this will evoke a response again blaming all of the poor behavior on the child, but I think that the professionals should take a deep look at themselves and evaluate why they behave as they have.

Diana Strohm
Muskegon

URL: http://www.mlive.com/opinion/muskegon/index.ssf/2011/06/letters_should_a_school_insist.html

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Statistics from Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust show that, in the last year, 51 people in the city were treated with the controversial therapy, of which 22 were detained against their will.

According to guidelines from the Mental Health Foundation (MHF), the treatment should only be used for severe depression where a life is at risk.

But the Birmingham figures show it was also given to catatonic and prolonged manic cases.

A trust spokesman said it was difficult to quantify the effectiveness of ECT as it was given in conjunction with other therapies.

Michael Dunn, aged 59, of Erdington, was first treated after attempting suicide in his teens.

Diagnosed with bipolar at Highcroft Hospital, in Erdington, he was administered a weekly course of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

Over the next 20 years, he received the treatment more than 20 times.

Michael said it was only effective in the short term at jolting him out of his depression and the more he had it, the less effective it was.

What’s more, it left him with severe memory loss. “I feel like I’ve had parts of my life blanked out. There’s whole chunks that I can’t remember,” he said.

“I suppose it did lift the depression for a short while but it always came back.

“I would never have it again. I have found that just talking to people and taking medication has been far more effective.

“In this day and age, it shouldn’t be used. It’s barbaric.”

Dr Andrew McCulloch, from the MHF, said it should only be used “as a last resort”.

“It can have very serious side-effects, including memory loss, yet it can lift a person quickly out of a life-threatening depression,” he said.

In Birmingham, the treatment is used at the Oleaster unit, at the Queen Elizabeth hospital. The unit is currently undergoing its three-year audit by the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

URL: http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2011/05/05/electric-shock-therapy-blanked-out-parts-of-my-life-says-erdington-man-97319-28638091/

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Richard Lemus interviewed the atrocious Psychiatrist, Dr. Scott Segal the owner of the Segal Institute for Clinical Research and has said:

Dr. Scott Segal, Psychiatrist, Segal Institute for Clinical Research: “It’s definitely making adults depressed, and therefore the children depressed, as well. However, they have less money to spend on treatments, and these days insurance companies have higher co-payments and it’s very difficult for people to come in.”

Even scarier, it’s hard for patients or their families to pay for the medications they so desperately need.

Dr. Scott Segal: “They get their visits and their evaluations and whatever is needed in the study for free, as well as medications. In fact, in research studies, the treatment is above the normal level of care.”

Patients will often try out new drugs that aren’t on the market yet and many times they can stay on that medication after the study is over.

Dr. Scott Segal: “In many studies, after the study is over, the pharmaceutical company will give them a compassionate care and allow them take the medications for a period of time.”

David is on a new medication and sees a doctor weekly. He and his mom have high hopes for the future.

What Richard Lemus and the Channel 7 News Fox WSVN-TV fail to revel to the public is that theirs other ways to defeat depression without the usage of the dangerous drugs. It’s called proper diet, exercise and proper outdoor activities like going to the beach or going to a park. In the whole segment of the story reported by Richard Lemus nowhere did it mention natural ways to deal with depression.

Transcript from this story can be seen on: URL: http://www.wsvn.com/features/articles/medicalreports/MI131332

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In the absence of any objective medical tests to determine who has ADD or ADHD, doctors rely in part on standardized assessments and the impressions of teachers and guardians while the they administer leave little room for other causes or aggravating factors, such as diet, or environment. Hence, diagnosing a child or adolescent with ADD or ADHD is often the outcome, although no organic basis for either disease has yet to be clinically proven. Psychiatrists may then prescribe psychotropic drugs for the children without first without making it clear to parents that these medications can have severe side-effects including insomnia, loss of appetite, headaches, psychotic symptoms and even potentially fatal adverse reactions, such as cardiac arrhythmia. And yet, despite these dangers, many school systems actually work with government agencies to force parents to drug their children, threatening those who refuse with the prospect of having their children taken from the home unless they cooperate.

End drugging our children with psychotropic drugs.

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