More children given 'chemical cosh'
By Roger Dobson

RECORD numbers of children are being given the drug Ritalin to control
their behaviour.

Prescribing rates for the drug, which is used to calm hyperactive children,
have trebled in the past year and are 24 times what they were six years ago.

A study by a Southampton University researcher reveals that some children
were given the drug four times a day for up to four years. Yet it found
little evidence that the effects of the drug are monitored.

Figures from the Department of Health show that in the past 12 months
47,900 prescriptions for Ritalin were issued, compared with 14,700 in the
previous year and only 2,000 in 1991.

The complex drug is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
(ADHD), whose symptoms include inattention, difficulty with organisation,
forgetfulness, being easily distracted and talking excessively. Ritalin is
claimed to enable the child to make use of its natural abilities to select,
focus, shut out distractions and think before acting.

But a further report questions the very existence of ADHD and its
treatment: "The way ADHD is uncritically accepted as a neurobiological
condition suggests that it may be masquerading as a late20th century Pilt
down man," it says.

The report, from the University of Nebraska, says ADHD is "a potent and
desirable label of forgiveness because it attributes troubling behaviour to
physiological forces outside an individual's control. No one is
responsible or blameworthy for problem behaviour. It allows the good child
to be separated from bad behaviour."