Much has been written about the overuse of
medications in the US. One area in which
overmedication is especially evident is in the treatment
of Attention Deficit Disorder. Millions of children
and adults are diagnosed in ever increasing numbers
each year. The most commonly prescribed solution
is treatment by medication, amphetamines Ritalin,
Adderall and Dexedrine.
It is understandable that parents and teachers
can become overwhelmed by children who are hyperactive
in class and cannot learn under regular conditions.
How convenient it would be if a pill could
make everything OK. Yet nobody really knows what happens to a child's brain on,
these drugs. While 90% of the world's Ritalin prescriptions are written here in the US,
Ritalin is banned in Sweden. There are no long-term studies on its effect.
Ritalin has known side effects such as loss of appetite and weight loss. Many
children become lethargic and robotic as I have seen in my own practice. Children
who are alive and curious become the opposite on Ritalin. One parent stated, "This is
not the child I know." Another stated that there was a definite personality change - her
child became more negative and destructive after school after Ritalin was diagnosed
to her child.
The emperor wears no clothes: a child on Ritalin learns that there is something
wrong with her or him. He or she learns that they need a drug to function. It is no
wonder that most ADD-designated people have low self-esteem.
Nobody knows what Attention Deficit is. In the 1960s, the label Minimal Brain
Dysfunction was used to explain erratic, inappropriate behaviors. In 1980, a Canaian
social scientist coined the term 'attention deficits" and the label stuck. No definitive
or consistent physical neurological impairment has been proven by the scientific
community. As a result, there is no definitive standardized test for ADD/ADHD.
Attention Deficit Disorder is not a brain disorder, chemical imbalance or genetic
malfunction. It is not a disease. Many clients will say "I have it." In fact, we know
that when a child or adult is excited and motivated, they can stay on task for hours. At
that time one asks, "What ADD?"; "Where. did it go?"
So what is it and where does it come from? To quote Dr. Majid Ali,
"The epidemic of attention deficit disorder cannot be understood by 19th-century notions
of diseases and drugs. Instead, we must learn to look at the disorder as a violation of
the natural physical, mental, and energetic systems and then teach (new ways of
organizing mind and body to the diagnosed individual)."
1 believe that the holistic model far more accurately reflects the true nature of
the disorder. ADD is a condition, a state of being in disruption and disharmony in a
mind-body system. An ADD person is frozen in a 'flight or fight' position. Their
energy and brain waves are moving away from flowing in a calm, relaxed, and thoughful way.
Everything is speeded up. Inside space is tied up in knots and reflecting
anxiety. Oxygen does not flow-to the brain. In fact, anyone in this state cannot think
or act clearly or effectively. They cannot be active or focused. They are reactive and
tuned out from the present moment.
When we are in right relationship to ourselves, we have a center. All things in
nature a center and a ground. This center becomes our of point self-organization.
In this position we are receptive. Our brain waves move into an alpha state. We
are relaxed, calm and alert and conscious from within. This is the necessary and
optimal state of being for learning effectively. Our central sensing and organizing
position evolves during the first seven years of life experience.
There is a direct correlation to structural, proprioceptive (use of the five senses)
imbalance and mental functioning. If I am in natural "right" relationship to myself I
have self-possession, a strong sense of myself from within. When I do my outside
experience it usually is successful. I can handle all that is asked of me. I feel positive
and more confident that I will be successful. One can learn to connect in "right
relationship." One can re-experience and recreate themselves to function more effectively.
We say to a child who is enrolled in the Rhinecliff Program: "There is wrong with you.
What you are doing, what you have learned so far is not working to
assist you effectively in handling your life at school and at home effectively. You will
learn how to self-organize so your life will work better. You will be more in control
of what is happening to you."
To the parent we say, "no guilt or blame." We help the parent become more self-structured.
Parents learn to work together as a team. We help the parents to work with more positive
energy and creative solutions in dealing with their child.
The ADD-designated person lacks the ability to be at the center
of his or her own experience. He or she has a void - a self-organizing self-referring void within.
The ADD person is always co-dependent with a parent (or if it is an adult - significant other).
She or he cannot stand alone. He or she has never learned to function independently.
He or she lacks a self-image that is positive and confident.
She or he moves in a frozen fight or flight position, riddled with anxiety and self-doubt.
That system gets in its own way. The child is organized around
reaction and control of others rather than him or herself.
The child cannot contain him or herself to take proper action.
This position becomes habitual and entrenched.
Steve had very little sense of his own power. His mother did a lot for him;
she filled in many spaces for Steve. The work for this family was to start learning
to function independently. As Steve was encouraged and taught how to take charge of himself,
everything got better.
Many times parents have to constantly nag their children to start homework because they don't possess the inner connection to start it on their own. It isn't until parents yell in frustration that children get started. From learning non-drug tools and techniques to use in school, to filling out weekly forms that build structure and create a routine, Steve slowly and surely became more empowered. His mother learned to let him take charge. She learned to be less hyper vigilant and give him room to experience on his own. She learned to be consistent and to set reasonable rules and boundaries. He started to listen to her the first time. She also learned it was fine to start taking care of her own needs. It was all right to think of herself and let go always pleasing others first.
People with Attention Deficit Disorder tend to be speeded up, alienated from themselves and their experience. There is a mind/body separation; they are unable to use their energy properly and function effectively. Uncentered in their own space, they cannot "make sense" of their own power and position. They look to others. Yet, all power comes from within.
The ADD person lacks the seff-referent point within to guide him or her effectively. Lost in time and space, With a separation and disconnection in mind/body movement and consciousness, the ADD person is unable to accurately and objectively "read" the outside world and respond effectively. They sit somewhere in the void between intention and properaction. They lack the self image needed to take positive action.
When this happens, the child's system either speeds up with anxiety (hyperactivity), or merely tunes out.
The child's mind goes unconscious and becomes unreceptive. The inner sensor and organizer that keeps a system effective, integrated and efficient is derailed. Instead of action, the person is involved with reaction and negative thoughts and negative action.
The following list gives insight into what is meant by "right relationship," which develops normally during the first seven years of life.
The body is aligned properly. There is a saying: "He who
walks uprightly, walks securely."
Breathing is complete and extends throughout the entire body. Inner and outer experience are congruent.
The person uses the five senses appropriately.
The person has self-possession and confidence.
The person can stay in the present moment.
The person is proactive.
The person can fulfill his or her own potential.
The person moves with ease and gets what they need and want in life.
The Rhinebeck Non-drug program is devoted to getting each person back on track for themselves. When this happens, they start to take back their own power and reorganize in a more positive, empowered, proactive manner. Below is an example of a specific technique used in the classroom or workplace.
