Ritalin Bad Or Good?

[Roger Smith]

I Remember one of my friends of elmentary school drinked Ritalin
he was of those hyper kids but he was like if he couldent do nothing he look like tired he only study i once invite him to a party and he said im busy study after that the poor guy suffer a lot he try to commite suicide and his report card was like this
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 full of 10's and i have come to question this myself is Ritalin Good Or Bad?

[sl4]

Ritalin is bad. I used to know someone who took Ritalin, and he just kept getting worse.

Ritalin was originally marketed as a diet pill, according to my dad. And I'd believe it, because this kid ate virtually nothing. It was really sad.

Ritalin = bad. And there IS a better way. My dad knows this guy named Dr. Vic Pedro, who has these amazing methods to fix this and similar problems (speech problems, ADD, ADHD, twitches, etc.). He looks at the symptoms and puts together a set of 'exercises' that are supposed to be done a few times a day for a few months. My dad took me up to Rhode Island a few months to have him help my ADD and face twitch, and saying that the results are amazing would be an understatement.

Well, I got kinda off-topic there, but...yeah, Ritalin is not good.

[Anyone00]

In general bad because people would rather pump kids with pills that give them a little discipline.

[ninjagirl]

I read an article where scientists said ritalin was chemically identical to cocaine even using the same receptors in the brain, but I'm too lazy to look it up right now.
IMO every one isn't supposed to act the same any way. Imagine Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) if he had been raised in present day America. He would have been heavily medicated just to keep him still and the world would miss out on a (mainly) self-taught herpetalogical (reptile-related) genius and a very entertaining guy.

[supermonkey]

There are some great natural solutions to help in concentration and focus. I don't think the medication itself is bad as with most (not all) medications, rather how physicians adminster these drugs deserves such evaluation. OTC drugs are a different story of course.

[night]

I used to take it when i was younger it's not that good in that in change's the way you act.

[Roger Smith]

Ritalin is bad.... i now understend

[Tienshin]

Drugs are bad...mmmkay.

[StarScream64]

In general bad because people would rather pump kids with pills that give them a little discipline.
Believe me, "a little discipline" does not work. If anything it could make things worse.

I was on Ritalin for I don't know how long. I don't know if I'm in the minority but I think it helped me out a bit. Maybe I'm a fluke :shrug:. If I told you some of the stories of me before I started on it you would think I'd be in the state pen by now.:evil:
It's not a permanent solution, just helps you learn how to better function. From what I'm hearing, different people seem to have different reactions. I had no problem with my appitite, but it did seem like a stimulent.

Like supemonkey said, it's not necessarily a bad drug. It's not necessarily a good drug either. And of COURSE it changes the way you act, that's what it's supposed to do. It's supposed to help with the attention span thing.

And as for it being chemically identical to cocaine, I've never heard of that. All I can say is that, in my case at least, I was closer to Cloud Nine without the Ritalin http://www.mail2world.com/images/Emoticons/wobblyeyes.gif.
Believe me, I'm not supporting Ritalin. I just want to point out that parents aren't "pumping their kids" with pills. The decision they make for their kids is a hard one. And there are success stories.

[RogueMartian]

The unfortunate thing about ritalin is that it is, or at least was, nobody seems to say anymore, overprescribed. Psychiatrists used to spend ten minutes with a child before determining that they needed ritalin.

The fact is most kids only need discipline, and i'm not talking about corporal punishment. Sitting down to do homework, or pay attention to teachers for 7 hours a day while outside the sun is shining and the grass is green is difficult. There isn't a sane person on earth who wouldn't fidget, fall asleep, talk to their friends, etc. while some old person droned on about the importance of the french revolution or atoms in an excited state. However, this is the world we live in. And although we don't want to, we have to get used to the fact that the majority of our adult lives will be spent listening to people drone on about one stupid thing or another. Teaching kids to discipline themselves to pay attention is what is necessary. My dad taught me to appreciate my education and neither beatings nor ritalin was necessary.

However, for those one in a million ritalin cases where there is genuine need, I have no problem with ritalin. Chemical imbalances that make it impossible for kids to do anything productive surely do exist. So for them ritalin is fine. But for lazy parents who blame TV and schools for everything, ritalin is as more a drug for their benefit than the child's.

[Lucky Bob]

Now, now, guys. Maybe it will help the hyperactivity of the obese kids who Spongebob force-fed Twinkies to. (http://forums.toonzone.net/showthread.php?t=83980):D

[Roger Smith]

O_O i know understend i wanted to take ritalin because i think i would turn more inteligent

[StarScream64]

O_O i know understend i wanted to take ritalin because i think i would turn more inteligent

It has nothing to do with turning people intelligent.

[Magwheel]

Interesting you mention intelligence enhancement, because sort of along those lines, the cover article (maybe two years ago) of Pop-Sci was on the use/over-use of Ritalin, and, at least in the US, dunno about Canada, there were whole families on Ritalin, just because things were easier that way.

In one case, an upper-class family of four. If I remember correctly(can't find the articel...), one member actually had ADD or ADHD, but the other three just found it helped them perform their tasks easier and with better results. For example, they said that their ten/eleven -year-old daughter is on Ritalin because it helps her focus and excel in her swimming competitions. The others... performance at work/school/in the kitchen. Anyway, this really disturbed me. The kid had nothing wrong with her, and yet the doctor saw nothing wrong with giving her a behavoir-altering drug that plays with brain chemistry. If my parents had ever done that to me I'd be so indignant I'd quit the swimming career, grind up my pills, and put them in my parents' coffee :D! Or my teachers'!! :D!

I wonder how this kid will cope if she stops taking drugs. I would expect it'd be quite a challenge to succeed without it after being on it at such a young age. But then I'm not a doctor/scientific person, so what do I know? :)