Before we get to the meat and potatoes documenting how this headline is not only shocking but also accurate, you must know that a secondary goal of this blog is to test a few theories. I have been pondering these theories because it seems to be a mystery as to why (after more than two decades of whistleblowers warning the public) so many adults have not heard or heeded the news that ADHD stimulant drugs, which are not that different from cocaine, are extremely dangerous for kids.
One of the theories is to explore if shocking headlines are still effective in catching our attention, or have we grown desensitized? My other theory is that no matter what the headline, most would rather watch YouTube videos on their smart phones, tablets or computers on the subject rather than read the details. So in order to test these theories, I have created a few animated short videos that basically share the same information as this blog. Rest assured I will keep a close eye on the view counts of both this blog and the videos for the next week or so, and get back to you on the results.
But for this little informal online study to work, I’m going to need your help.
I am hoping that after reading this short blog, you will watch the new animated videos I have created for my Debunking ADHD YouTube Video Series. Then, as part of this social experiment and using the headline above, share this blog and the video links below via email and social media with friends and contacts. Let’s see if the headline works and which form of media gets more attention. Let’s see if we can get a Video Enhanced Blog from MadinAmerica.com to go viral. Let’s see if we can help these 4.5 million kids being drugged for ADHD enjoy a childhood free from force-fed cocaine-like drugs.
So for those of you that found the headline of interest but just prefer to watch videos, please watch the videos below to get started:
Debunking ADHD: 10 Reasons to Stop Drugging Kids for Acting like Kids Part One…The Logic
Debunking ADHD: 10 Reasons to Stop Drugging Kids for Acting like Kids Part Two… The Reasons
But if you are one who also likes to read . . . well here you go.
For about a decade, I have closely monitored and researched the ADHD movement. My passion for such efforts is energized by my desire to help more than 4.5 million kids in the USA (currently being drugged for ADHD) salvage a childhood plagued by forced medication in the name of a delusional diagnosis that only reflects normal childhood behaviors. I have spent countless hours reading more biased, poorly designed, and ghostwritten pharmaceutical “research” than any academician should ever be exposed to. Sadly, a great amount of this pseudo and sometimes deceptive research has been created for quite some time by Madison Avenue marketing gurus that the not-so-family-friendly ADHD arm of the pharmaceutical industry has paid to produce. And as if paying for the creation of bogus research is not bad enough, they then coerce, pay or “incentivize” once respected doctors and professors (aka “experts”) to sign on as authors willing to publish and endorse the research. And yet still, after decades of such shady practices that theoretically should produce substantive results, they have no conclusive evidence of ADHD’s cause, no reliable or valid way to document its existence, or definitive proof their drugs are safe for short or long term use by children.
I have come to the conclusion the strongest evidence the Pro-ADHD cheerleaders have is acting like no evidence exists to show they are wrong.
They make such claims of awesomeness despite the fact that a respectful amount of research performed on lab animals documents how short-term use of ADHD drugs’ cause detrimental effects to the brain (Note: Chapter 3 in my new book, Debunking ADHD, shares numerous studies). Even with endless studies for decades showing the harmful long term effects of such stimulant drugs (e.g., Robinson & Kolb, 1997;Wang et al., 1994), they still claim and act as if they do not know how the drugs affect a child's brain. Despite the endless list of potential life-threatening side effects documented in their drugs’ medication guides published by the FDA, they still want you to believe the drugs are safe for kids. Conveniently, in an effort to continue the farce of dangerously drugging kids for acting like kids, they just ignore evidence and continue to act as if their billion dollar operations pushing pills to the populace are some sort of humanitarian oasis for parents. As the saying goes, "Ignorance is Bli$$!"
There have been many brave and caring souls before me that have warned the public of the insanity behind this supposed mental disorder and the drugs prescribed. But for some strange reason, or possibly due to the brilliance of the Madison Avenue marketing gurus, for decades these voices of reason have not been heard by the masses. For some strange reason, the media has not made this legal drug ring’s efforts a headline story. In the words of the philosopher Will Ferrell, “It’s mind-bottling!”
Now studies have shown that ADHD stimulant medication has basically the same effect on a child’s brain as cocaine. The stimulants, similar to cocaine, take over the neurochemicals in our prefrontal cortex that guide how we think and behave. This cognitive coup is accomplished by the stimulants reducing the blood flow and nutrients being sent to the brain by 23-30%. Imagine your local reservoir trying to provide water to your community when only 2/3 full. The impact of the stimulants causes the brain to micro-hemorrhage (bleed) (Ellinwood & Tong, 1996), and research shows such effects can cause more than 50% of the users to develop drug-induced Obsessive Compulsive Disorders. In other words, what some want to sell you is a sign of the drugs helping a child to be less spontaneous, less hyper, and more likely to only focus on one thing (e.g., more worksheets to teach the answers to standardized tests), is actually reflective of the mind being medicated to malfunction daily for the rest of their childhood.
Yet despite science showing the debilitating effects of ADHD drugs, you only read a few headlines in mainstream media today (e.g., Alan Schwarz at New York Times), and rarely do you see an honest discussion about such drug crimes during primetime viewing hours or on the 24-hour news networks. But what if the headline read, “4.5 Million Children Forced Daily by “Caretakers” to Do Cocaine-like Drugs”? Do you think this would be enough to get the media to pay attention and help those of us on the rational and logical side of the ADHD debate actually share such facts with parents who need to know the truth? Or does the fact that what they are feeding kids is somehow legal make everything politically correct? Even if Alan Schwarz recent piece on more than 10,000 toddlers ages 2-3 years old being drugged for ADHD garnered some good traction in social media and a few mentions on news networks, it was not enough.
Where is the outcry, beyond a few dedicated websites and blogs, to put an end to this pediatric practice? Could it be as one of my insightful blog readers pointed out, that the media doesn’t want to touch the topic because they do not want to lose the millions of dollars the pharmaceutical industry spends in advertising with their networks? Could it be that many adults are just looking for the quick easy fix to child behavior and academic issues, and unconsciously tune out such conflicting information? And rightly so, no one wants to find out they have been duped. No one wants to find out they have drugged their children based upon false information.
Or could it be that we all suffer to some extent from the All Do Have Disorder, and have troubles paying attention to what is truly important? Or could it be that we are just too busy to actually read the facts? To keep my sanity, I am going to assume it is just the latter of these reasons. Using my intuition and decade or so of being a professor, and realizing only a small percentage of students actually read what is assigned, I am just going to assume that most adults do not like to read. I am going to assume that with today’s technology and social networking sites, it’s just easier to click and watch it on the screen in front of you. So instead of writing any more words, I would like to urge you now to watch the two short animated videos I have created. Hopefully, these videos are succinct, informative and entertaining enough to help debunk the diagnosis of ADHD, and get adults to stop drugging kids for acting like kids.
I sincerely hope you take the time to watch these videos. I tried to make them informative, witty and visually pleasing. But most of all I hope you take the time to share the links of this blog and the videos with parents, educators, mental health practitioners and other caring adults, that need to hear that drugging kids for ADHD might just be a very bad idea.
Our kids deserve nothing less.