You know, is ritalin really bad as Scientologists make it out to be?

You know, there is this website, www.ritalindeath.com. And there are some psychiatrists and doctors who are against psychiatric drugs.

You know, I'm sure there are people who have bad experiences with psych drugs like people have bad experiences with Scientology, just as there are people who have good experiences from psych drugs just as there are people who have good experiences with Scientology. However, there are risks on both sides.

Personally, I wouldn't want to put my kid on ritalin if I had one.

Any opinions?

I don't think children should be drugged to suit.

Many of the AD's: SSRI's & SSNRI's aren't that powerful or that bad.

But Ritalin is a menace. NOT because it's "bad" but because too many kids are being put on it that don't actually need it.

SHAME on you, Digger, for posting that link here!

Why, that sort of left-wing, anti-business propaganda is just downright un-American!

Scientology wants to outlaw psych drugs and have people pay for their expensive auditing instead. I believe in the freedom of choice to decide what drugs I want or do not want to take.

I was on multiple psych-drugs a few years ago, and let me tell you; It was not a pleasant experience. Celexa for depression, Paxil for anxiety and a Ritalin 'Alternative' for 'ADD'. Of course, I was never on multiple psych drugs at one time, but even then, I still had vivid hallucinations and 'locked-in' dreams(nightmares that I knew where I was dreaming, but could not wake up).

Even today, I still experience those effects, even though I am no longer taking any drugs whatsoever. Though not as often, I still experience them. I highly suggest not drugging your child because they are hyper, etc, etc.

-OT4FREE

Out of curiosity, notwithstanding the side effects, did the drugs help you?

Depression and Anxiety, two sides of the same coin, are complex illnesses, and can not be treated with a one-size-fits-all approach. Whether drugs, talk therapy, hospitalization, or some combination of these is the best solution depends upon the individual being treated. That being said, I don't think anti-depressants should be prescribed for children.

Ritalin is neither good nor bad. Is it over-prescribed? Probably. Can it be misused? Definitely! The same can be said about just about any medication on the market. The emphasis scienos place on ritalin is, to me, comic. The case could be made that refined sugar is of equal danger, and is a "gateway drug".

R3: LaFayette Ronald HUBBARD,
C-7017422
Lt. USNR. 113392


Box 297
North Hollywood, Calif.
October 15, 1947


Medical
VETERANS ADMINISTRATION
Los Angeles, 25, Calif.


Gentlemen;


This is a request for treatment.


My residence is north of North Hollywood,
but I attend school at Seller Theater workshop,
Fairfax and Wilshire, Los Angeles. It would be
appreciated if any out-physician selected would
be located near my school as I have a vacant
hour and a half from 1 to 2:30 four days each
week at school. I work at night six days per week.


I was placed on certain medication back
east and have continued it at my own expense.


After trying and failing for two years
to regain my equilibrium in civil life, I am
utterly unable to approach anything like my
own competence. My last physician informed me
that it might be very helpful if I were to be
examined and perhaps treated psychiatrically
or even by a psycho-analyst. Toward the end
of my service" I avoided out of pride any mental
examinations, hoping that time would balance
a mind which I had every reason to suppose was
seriously affected. I cannot account for nor
rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal
inclinations, and have newly come to realize that
I must first triumph above this before I can hope
to rehabilitate myself at all.


I cannot leave school or what little work
I am doing for hospitalization due to many
obligations, but I feel I might be treated
outside, possibly with success. I cannot,
myself, afford such treatment.


Would you please help me?


Sincerely,


[Signature]
L. Ron Hubbard

Celexa and Paxil are both SSRIs that are used for treating depression.

Neither is used for treating anxiety.

My Dr. had me on Paxil for anxiety issues.

I'm on adderall now for ADD and I think it
is a wonder drug! I also have ativan for
panic attacks. Of course had the CoS not
treated me like they did 20 years ago
when I was a 13 year old sea org flunky
I'm not sure I would have needed alot
of meds I've been on since~ but hey, that's
just my humble opinion!

I'm on Paxil for anxiety as well. My Dr. told me it works really well for
anxiety

I've noticed something very interesting in my short time at looking at Operation Clambake.

I actually talked to a Scientologist. They pointed out the quote-unquote "New Freedom Initiative" yet I already knew about it. Something tells me that darker elements within the Untied States Government is using the Church of Scientology as controlled opposition.

That's what I kept seeing. Other people were pointing out the problems with psychotrphic drugs being prescribed to the wrong people. People often believe in the one-size-fits-all-solution which in reality does not exist at all.

Psychology/Psychiatry is a double edged sword. It can be used for a person's benefit, but can also be used to harm people. Those who wish to force kids to see a psychologist/psychiatrist without parents' permission are often those who do not wish to seek treatment themselves (i.e. the Bush family, etc.....).

Why hasn't our own Government done something about the Church of Scientology by now? Think about that one....

But th2, the idea that a certain practice is a double-edged sword could be said of basically every single brance of medicine.
Hell, it could even be said of science. (According to Bible-thumpers, the knowedge of evolution makes your life feel meaningless and therefore you go around commit crimes.)
Let's just say: some people are desperately against civilisation.

As for people complaining their drugs didn't work...

Drugs prescribed for mental conditions, including anti-depressants, work in a complex way.

Say you got prescribed for Substance A.
Substance A is placed in your body, your liver breaks it down to produce substance B, which causes a trigger for Substance C, which in turn is either a trigger or limiter for Substance D, which was the real reason this substance A is prescribed for.

It takes up to a month before the drugs start working, and during that time, you may find yourself intolerant to any of the other chemicals being released/broken down as a result of your medication.
Once you are on a drug, you should ideally see your doctor every week, or at least phone in about the important changes in your life.

Because the idea is to feed a constant stream of chemicals, drugs should never be taken intermittently.
Even the hour you take it, whether you take it before or after meal, what you have taken before/after/ with the drug, whether you have changed your lifestyle since initial prescription affects the amount and frequencies of the dosage reaching where it should.

This is espeecially true of drug addicts. Because the chemicals in your brain are rewired to crave the drugs, your brain chemistry is obviously no longer what your doctor is expecting when administering the drugs. Some doctors go extreme and even advise a ban on caffeine-containg products (including tea and chocolate) or nicotine (cigarettes, chewing tobacco) two weeks prior to administering medication.

Unfortunately, childhood development counts as one of these "lifestyle changes". This is why reactions of children under the same drugs are unpredictable, coupled with the fact that all studies and tests of drugs are done on adults.

As it is, the drugs are technically only a temporary aid: it can never truly simulate what your body can do, nor totally limit the exact levels of chemicals.
In short, a lack/overload of substance D may not be the only reason your mental contidition is produced. There may be a need for substances E, D and F to be monitored, which researchers do not know about, or are only testing now. Neurology is still a budding branch of medicine.

Drugs will never give you a 100% "normalcy" while on them, and nobody should expect it to. It's up to you to regain your faculties and fight the mental disorder yourself.
If you are born with the chemical imbalance, I'm sorry, the medical world is yet to invent therapeutic medicine for such imbalances.

wow you were in the sea org? i really admire people who leave scientology because from what i read they scare the crap out of you to get you not to leave. i feel bad for children born into it because it really seems that you have no choice but to become a scientologists. i was born catholic and went to private school all my life but they really encouraged me to question catholic beliefs and to not just take everything for granted. in the end i am still catholic but at least i was given the choice to stay or go.

The alt.religion.scientology discussion group is crammed (deliberately by CoS) with stories of psychiatrists abusing their patients, and people on drugs committing crimes. CoS thereby hopes to deflect attention from their fraud by their "anti-drug" cause. But the side effects of Ritalin don't excuse the crimes of CoS.

The issue of Ritalin and its side effects is complex and everybody thinks they're an expert. If you are looking for facts, look for newspapers, magazines and journals that you've heard of. CCHR is a Scientology anti-psychiatry front so expect distortions and half-truths from that group.

Here's an example where skeptictank points out the flaws in a "study" that was just a Scientology concoction. Here is a government fact sheet on ritalin that lists its pros and cons. Ritalin has been prescribed for decades and is probably safer than some just-approved drug. I bet it's safer than overdoses of niacin like in CoS's Purification Rundown. If you are trying to make a decision on your own, you need expert advice from people who can interview the patient. We can't give medical advice here. I googled
ADHD & "chat group" and got http://www.angelfire.com/mo/adhdchat/
along with others. Try them.