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When Vivienne Sales finally broke her silence, she did so loudly, losing her temper in the hushed library where she worked. It was August 2003, and she had been hanging on to her job as a reference librarian by the most fragile of threads. For more than a year her supervisors at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Ariz., had been warning her that she was sometimes sloppy and inaccurate. She was late for work too often, they said. She didn't dress neatly and appropriately. Her desk was always a mess. Sales knew all this. She also knew why. Three...

When Chad Taylor noticed his son was apparently experiencing serious side effects from Ritalin prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he decided to take the boy off the medication. Now, he says he may be accused of child abuse. In February, 12-year-old Daniel began displaying some symptoms that his father suspected were related to the use of Ritalin. "He was losing weight, wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just wasn't Daniel." So Taylor took Daniel off Ritalin, against his doctor's wishes. And though Taylor noticed Daniel was sleeping better and his appetite...

Laurie Coots, a marketing executive who flies to meetings in other countries twice a week, spent years trying to conquer sleepless nights and chronic jet lag. But nothing worked, she says, and every day was a struggle to stay awake. "It was debilitating," said Ms. Coots, 46, who is from Los Angeles. "I couldn't give an effective presentation because I was always shaky and nervous from being amped up on caffeine and stimulants." Then she found modafinil, a small white pill that revs up the central nervous system without the jitteriness of caffeine or the addiction and euphoria of amphetamines....

From the "I told you so" department: In 1979, I wrote a feature-length article for the Charlotte Observer in which I opined that we knew enough about how the brain develops to conclude with reasonable certainty that television was bad for young children. Specifically, bombarding the developing brain with television's incessant "flicker" was a recipe for a significantly shortened attention span and, by extension, poor impulse control. I emphasized that because all television programs produce said "flicker" (with the notable exception of "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood," which uses long, steady camera shots instead of jumping quickly from scene to scene), it...

Senate Votes to Add 20,000 Troops to Army 15 minutes ago By KEN GUGGENHEIM, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Defying the Bush administration, the Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to add 20,000 troops to an Army stretched thin by the war in Iraq and other commitments around the world. The 93-4 vote in the Republican-led Senate — following a similar action by the House — reflected the anxieties lawmakers have been hearing from families of service personnel whose tours in Iraq keep getting extended and whose return to civilian life is repeatedly postponed. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the lack of...

Pills vs. Talking When It Comes to Mental Illness, Parents Face Dilemmas Over Medication, Talk Therapy By Bryan Robinson June 7, 2004 — When Chad Taylor noticed his son was apparently experiencing serious side effects from Ritalin prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, he decided to take the boy off the medication. Now, he says he may be accused of child abuse. In February, 12-year-old Daniel began displaying some symptoms that his father suspected were related to the use of Ritalin. "He was losing weight, wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating," Taylor told ABC News affiliate KOAT-TV in New Mexico. "[He] just...

Now a team of researchers representing some of the best and brightest in the field has determined that even a moderate amount of television-watching during the formative years has an adverse effect on attention span. From the "I Told You So" Department: In 1979, I wrote a feature-length article for The Charlotte Observer (subsequently picked up by other newspapers) in which I opined that we knew enough about how the brain develops to conclude with reasonable certainty that television was bad for young children. Specifically, bombarding the developing brain with television's incessant "flicker" was a recipe for a significantly shortened...

Spending on drugs to treat children and adolescents for behavior-related disorders rose 77 percent from 2000 to the end of 2003, according to a study of prescription purchases by Medco Health Solutions, a pharmacy benefits management company. The increase, to $536 a patient a year on average, reflected rising prices as growing numbers of young people used newer and more expensive drugs, said Robert S. Epstein, chief medical officer of Medco. The report is to be released today. Sales of the behavioral drugs are growing faster than any other type of medicine taken by children, pulling ahead of the previous...

NEURODIVERSITY FOREVER NO sooner was Peter Alan Harper, 53, given the diagnosis of attention deficit disorder last year than some of his family members began rolling their eyes. To him, the diagnosis explained the sense of disorganization that caused him to lose track of projects and kept him from completing even minor personal chores like reading his mail. But to others, said Mr. Harper, a retired journalist in Manhattan, it seems like one more excuse for his inability to "take care of business." He didn't care. "The thing about A.D.D. is how much it affects your self-esteem,'' Mr. Harper said....

Opinion : Letters Opinion : Letters Illegal campaign contributions add to Kerry's election coffers April 05, 2004 Kudos to Brooke Barrash and the College Republicans for sponsoring the debate among Senatorial candidates on Feb. 24. The following information will be of interest to TU students regarding John Kerry, a presidential candidate. My novel, “The China Connection,” focuses on illegal campaign contributions by the Chinese military. Liu Chao-ying and Johnny Chung, conduits for Chinese money funneled to the Democratic National Committee, the Clinton-Gore Re-election Committee and several senators favorable to Chinese interests, figure prominently. In 1996, Kerry met with Liu Chao-ying...

<p>WASHINGTON — As a California pediatrician and 49-year-old mother of two teenage daughters, Claudia Jensen says pot might prove to be the preferred medical treatment for attention deficit disorder (search) — even in adolescents.</p>

If they turn off the tube, could their lives improve? 01:20 PM CDT on Saturday, April 17, 2004 By STEVE BLOW / The Dallas Morning News A job in journalism takes you into a lot of different homes. And I mean from mansions to shacks. One thing I noticed almost from the very start – the poorer the home, the more prevalent the television. By that, I partly mean the television set itself. I was surprised to go into tiny, ramshackle homes and find an enormous, big-screen television wedged into the living room. But more than that, I noticed that...

That’s the serious question raised by a new study that shows a correlation between the amount of time infants and toddlers spend in front of a television set and subsequent difficulties with concentration, impulsiveness and restlessness. Let me say it for you: Holy crap. In a country where half the people wearing diapers watch “Finding Nemo” two or three times a day, this could be big trouble. And it could have huge consequences. And it could leave a generation of parents asking, “What have I done?” The study, put out by the American Academy of Pediatrics, doesn’t say that TV...

Check your local listings for airtimes. (Current show is updated every weekday at 5pm EST.) HEALTH Health Experts Warn of Antidepressant Dangers for Children, Teens By Darla SittonCBN News Producer In America, Prozac is the only drug the FDA has "approved" for pediatric depression. CBN.com – (CBN News) - As many as one in eight adolescents suffers from clinical depression. And these kids are often treated with anti-depressant drugs that have been tested and approved for adult use. But the drugs may not be safe for children. Corey Baadsgaard doesn't remember storming into his honors English class with a...

<p>THE POWER of marketing can clearly be seen in the case of Strattera, Eli Lilly's new drug for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The company is hoping its drug will help fill the gap left in its revenue stream when its patent on the phenomenally successful Prozac expired two years ago.</p>

GI returns a changed man A mom's best gift: Once-wayward son finds sense of purpose in Iraq 08:49 PM CST on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News For Michael Zeagler, a Dallas soldier fighting in Iraq, one of the sweetest moments of coming home for the holidays occurred just before Christmas at Valley View Center mall. The Army specialist, a member of the 101st Airborne Division, had arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport after a grueling 72-hour journey from Mosul, Iraq. The first thing the 22-year-old wanted to do, even in full desert "camo,"...

A bill (HR 1170) to prevent schools from forcing parents to drug their kids diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Disorder was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21 by a vote of 425 to 1. The legislation, the "Child Medication Safety Act of 2003" (SB 1390) was introduced in the Senate by Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., where it is being kept in cold storage. The House passed the bill overwhelmingly – and with good reason. The forced drugging of American schoolchildren has become pandemic, and it is time to put a stop to this psychiatric abuse of...

Driver Shoots and Kills Man After Amish Pranksters Throw Tomatoes at His CarThe Associated PressPublished: Sep 2, 2003 MOUNT HOPE, Ohio (AP) - A driver fired a shotgun into a cornfield and killed a man after being tormented by a group of young Amish pranksters who pelted his car with tomatoes, authorities said. Steven L. Keim was with about 10 other members of the Amish community, ages 15 to 23, who were hiding in the field Monday night, throwing tomatoes and firing paintball guns at passing cars, the Holmes County Sheriff's office said. After driving past the cornfield several...

Need for Ritalin rooted in lax parenting? July 22 2003 at 04:45AM London - Hundreds of thousands of children prescribed the anti-hyperactivity drug Ritalin may simply be victims of lax parenting, new evidence suggests. The work of a British expert has cast doubt on the existence of such conditions as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and will fuel controversy over the spiralling use of Ritalin. Behavioural expert Warwick Dyer claims parents need to accept more blame for their children's "disorders" and move away from the chemical cosh of prescription drugs. In a remarkable breakthrough he has developed a programme that focuses...

The following are short pieces recently written by Neal Boortz regarding Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, appearing in Neal's Nuze: DON’T PAY ATTENTION TO THIS. JUST KEEP DRUGGING YOUR KIDS.More and more medical and psychological professionals are speaking out against this phony disease of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Dr. Bob Jacobs, a psychologist, is on the advisory board of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology. He recently told a conference in Australia that ADHD is a behavioral problem, not a medical disorder. He correctly points out that there is no proof that...