Natural Health Nut (I love that name, btw!)
I haven't read Ritalin is Not the Answer, so I can't speak to it directly. Here's what I think of the rest of it, though.
I think that chemical imbalances can often be treated with proper nutrition and exercise. Thus, some people with depression are helped that way. However, in ADD, the neurotrasmitters in the brain don't work properly. Sure, a person can improve that to some extent with diet. There are different levels of ADD, as with any health concern.
You and I are not that far apart in our views of health and wellness. I take exactly one medication and that is Adderall. Okay, when I get severe menstrual cramps or a headache, I take Tylenol, but that's infrequent. I've had bronchitis a time or two and for that I took antibiotics. For anything else, include perimenopausal symptoms, I use natural remedies. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and I am managing that, for now, by losing weight, exercising and eating well. I get that connection.
I also agree that we overmedicate children. I simply ask that parents not rule outADD meds without considering them. I'll give you an example. My nephew has ADHD. The neuropsychiatrist who diagnosed him (after many tests, btw) said his was the worst case she'd seen in her 30 year career. My sister and BIL didn't want him "labeled" and didn't want to give him medication. Guess what? He GOT labeled: the naughty kid. He had poor impulse control (a symptom of ADD), he couldn't learn to read, he couldn't pay attention, etc. He didn't make friends because he didn't learn social skills, etc. Finally, in first grade, we got him diagnosed. In the 5 years since then, his life has turned right around. He reads above grade level, he has friends, he can participate in team sports, all kinds of things. He takes on low-level dose of Adderall per day. He is a happy, well adjusted, confident little boy.
Ritalin is not a "gateway" drug. That is an absolute misconception. It is not addictive in a person with ADD.
As for why America? Honestly, I think it's partly our culture. Frankly, for many people who have more mild AD/HD, we could function just fine if we didn't live in a culture that is so obsessed with schedules and like that. I think Europeans and other developing countries prescribe Ritalin, etc less often because Europeans don't have to fit into American culture. But we do live here, and we do need to manage our lives accordingly.
I could give you a whole host of reasons why I think our children are getting all those meds (besides just the ADD ones) but I'll limit it to this: I think we don't value parenting in this country, so no one learns how to do it well. I think it's often easier to drug something away than learn to deal with it in other ways. That probably seems like a contradiction to all the other things I've said, but in a previous post, I mentioned being a foster mom and how that worked. I think being open to the possibility that your child may need pharmaceutical intervention is NOT the same thing as filling them with drugs at the first sign of child-like behavior.
