Ten-year-old boy hangs himself after taking Ritalin and Prozac

Monday, July 18, 2011 by: Anthony Gucciardi
Tags: Ritalin, suicide, health news

(NewsTarget) A ten-year-old boy hung himself with a belt from his bunk bed while taking a psychotropic combination of Ritalin and Prozac. The boy's father says that the two drugs are entirely to blame for the death of his son, whose boisterous behavior and low spirits led to a psychiatrist's suggestion to begin taking them. At the time of death, the child had more drugs in his body than the 'normal' level for adults suffering from the same psychological issues.

About 661,000 prescriptions are prescribed each year in Britain alone to treat childhood ADHD -- twice the figure of five years ago. These medications are also being given to extremely young children, one such child just 15 months of age. The doctors prescribing these pharmaceuticals for such young children are going against the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) official guidelines, which prohibits their use for children under the age of 6. Educational psychologist David Traxson suspects that the number of extremely young children on Ritalin or similar drugs is quite high and that it is steadily climbing.

'These young children are taking powerful, potentially addictive drugs and no one knows what will happen to their brains in the future,' he warned.

Ritalin stimulates the nervous system, which leads to a number of admitted side effects including increased blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and alertness and suppressed appetite. These side effects, however, are very minor compared to research that has linked Ritalin use to cancer and an increased probability of suicidal thoughts and behavior. The very pharmaceutical that is designed to help suicidal patients may very well lead to suicide. In addition, Ritalin is an extremely powerful pill that can be compared to illegal hard drugs. In fact, Ritalin has the same pharmacological profile as cocaine, and it is even more potent. Scientists using brain imaging equipment found that Ritalin in pill form occupies more of the neural transporters responsible for the "high" experienced by addicts than cocaine that is smoked or injected.

Considering the hardcore nature of this drug, one would assume that the diagnosis protocol for ADHD is quite vigorous and thorough. The sad truth is that diagnosing ADHD comes down to a matter of opinion. Due to the loose regulation of ADHD diagnosis and distribution of Ritalin and other drugs, 1 in 10 kids have been diagnosed with ADHD. Studies have found that food dyes may be to blame for the behavior observed in children that are labeled as ADHD by doctors. Such additives include: blue #1 and #2 food coloring, green #3, orange B, red #3 and #40, yellow #5-6, and sodium benzoate.

The sad death of this ten-year-old boy may be directly related to his prescription medication, Ritalin. The child's healthcare provider should have tried to improve diet by eliminating harmful food additives and preservatives, which have been linked to ADHD, before resulting to harmful pharmaceutical drugs that have been linked to suicidal tendencies.

Sources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-20...
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/a...
http://www.youngminds.org.uk/mailshot-news/h...
http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbna...

About the author

Anthony Gucciardi is a health activist and wellness researcher, whose goal is centered around educating the general public as to how they may obtain optimum health. He has authored countless articles highlighting the benefits of natural health, as well as exposing the pharmaceutical industry. Anthony is the creator of Natural Society (http://www.NaturalSociety.com), a natural health website. Anthony has been accurately interpreting national and international events for years within his numerous political articles. Anthony's articles have been seen by millions around the world, and hosted on multiple top news websites.