From: "Perry E. Metzger" <perry@piermont.com>
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 11:04:13 +0800
To: mpd@netcom.com (Mike Duvos)
Subject: Re: [RANT] Giving Mind Control Drugs to Children
In-Reply-To: <199607091902.MAA18000@netcom14.netcom.com>
Message-ID: <199607092034.QAA14218@jekyll.piermont.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



Mike Duvos writes:
> Inventing mythological ailments and "politicizing dissent" has
> other disadvantages as well.  Little Johnny's perfectly valid
> criticisms of the local NEA stormtrooper can be easily dismissed
> by an explanation that Johnny has "Authority Defiance Disorder",
> or some other convenient thing that permits Johnny to be tranked
> senseless whenever he might say something awkward in public.

The abuse of psychiatry as an instrument of opression is not new, of
course. The Soviet Union used it regularly.

However, if anything, Ritalin gives a person with ADD the tools with
which to more effectively subvert authority. Its very hard to smash
the state, or even plot to get even with your boss, when you can't
concentrate sufficiently to execute your plans. It may be true that
someone will be less likely to impulsively act out against authority
under its influence, but such impulses rarely actually produce any
sort of lasting impact -- they only get one in trouble. By contrast,
effective subversion requires patience and self discipline, which is
precisely what an ADD sufferer does not have.

In short, if one really was trying to narcotize a troublemaker,
tranquilizers and the like are probably far better than Ritalin and
other amphetamines, which, in spite of Tim's pronouncements, do not
act as tranquilizers.

>  > Did you listen to that guy at all? He was in pain and
>  > anguish over the fact that his life was totally screwed up
>  > in spite of his best efforts to make a go at work he loved.
>  > Now he can function. You want him to be "diverse" and go on
>  > not functioning. He doesn't want that. Who are you to tell
>  > him how live his own life?
> 
> The human body is a homeostatic system.  Let's see what this
> guy's mood looks like in 30 years and see how he feels about
> Ritalin taking then.  By that time, he may be taking the same
> dose he is today just to feel as rotten as he did before he
> started taking it at all.

Actually, some ADD sufferers actually need less medication with time,
as the ability to concentrate for prolonged periods gives them the
chance to work on non-drug based coping strategies which are difficult
to work on without the meds.

Perhaps you ought to examine the scientific literature rather than
simply deciding to guess.


Perry