A Ritalin Picture
Sitting on my deck this week, I saw our longtime neighbor boy Josh
across the street mowing his mother's lawn. Josh offers a Ritalin
picture of how Ritalin can affect a child. We have watched Josh
develop from the wild tornado of a boy that moved into our
neighborhood over a decade ago into a wonderful young man. Over
half of this time, Josh was on Ritalin.
Josh was a Ritalin child who benefited short-term from Ritalin but
suffered some long-term Ritalin effects. Here is the Ritalin
picture of Josh;
The Ritalin Picture: Josh at age10.
Josh’s family moved into the neighborhood about a decade ago. To
say Josh was rambunctious would be an understatement. Josh was a
destructive force that required constant supervision. He fought
often and had little control over his actions or emotions.
Josh’s mother came over one day and mentioned that doctors placed
Josh on Ritalin. Josh’s mother said Ritalin was picture perfect.
“Now that Josh is on Ritalin, I can get off the Prozac,” she said,
only half joking.
This was almost 12 years ago, at the time Ritalin and ADHD were
starting to become vogue. At this time I was relatively unfamiliar
with Attention Deficit and its medications. All I knew was that I
did not have to supervise Josh as closely as I had in the past.
Josh still managed to missed the school bus about once a week and
he still struggled with grades but Josh was more calm, more in
control and got into less tangles when playing with my children.
The Ritalin Picture: Josh at age 16
Josh continued to show up on my doorstep on a regular basis
looking for a ride to school. One morning he mentioned that he
quit taking Ritalin a few months earlier. He felt uncomfortable
taking Ritalin and didn’t think it helped much, he explained. I
was quite surprised that I did not notice the difference from
`Ritalin Josh' and `No Ritalin Josh.' His earlier wildness had not
returned, thanks to six years of maturity, I assumed.
The Ritalin Picture: Josh at age 18
Josh had his sights set on a military career and joined the Army
as soon as he turned 18. His military career was short lived. Less
the one week to be exact. The week following enlistment, Josh was
told that the Army would not accept him due to his past Ritalin
use. Neither Josh nor his mother knew that using Ritalin as a
child would disqualified Josh for military service as an adult.
Having missed college enrollment, Josh worked at a local
restaurant washing dishes for six months until he could start
college.
The Ritalin Picture: Josh at age 21
We are at present day, with Josh across the street mowing his
mother’s lawn. It has been a semester since I saw Josh. I was
shocked to see that Josh has begun noticeably balding. Although
the drug manufacturers deny the connection between Ritalin and
hair loss, there is much anecdotal evidence that points to this
lesser occurring side effect. It’s anyone’s guess whether six
years of Ritalin use had any effect on Josh’s premature balding.
The Ritalin Picture: Josh’s Past, Josh’s Future
It is impossible to guess how someone’s life would have panned out
had a different route been taken. Would Josh’s life been better,
worse or the same had he not taken Ritalin. Some Ritalin studies
say the Josh’s adult behavioral life would be relatively unchanged
whether he did or did not take Ritalin.
It is also impossible to predict the future when faced with a
present day choice between using pharmaceutical medication for
ADHD or a natural alternative. Will your or your child’s life be
better, worse or relatively unchanged? Ignoring ADHD and its
symptoms is not a good option, but if there is a healthy
alternative to Ritalin (and other ADHD medications) and it appears
that Ritalin (and other ADHD medications) do not offer long-term
effects, it only makes good sense to use the healthy alternative.
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