Health problems and dietary deficiencies are being mislabelled as behavioural problems in New Zealand schools, according to a growing number of concerned individuals.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights executive director Steve Green says he is deeply concerned at the push to label children in schools with 'behavioural problems'.
"The child is labelled with behavioural problems so that they can be medicated," he said.
School counsellors arrange meetings with parents of disruptive children, sometimes before ruling out other health problems.
"A young boy had an ear infection. It was pretty obvious. There was stuff leaking from his ear. And they just looked at his behaviour and said he had a behavioural problem.
"They found he only had 20 percent of his hearing there from the infection. That's why his behaviour was like that."
Mr Green said the counsellors should be looking at the children's physical symptoms and general health first.
"As a child you wouldn't really be able to articulate what was going on with your body and you might just be disruptive as a result."
Push for Ritalin Still a Concern
The Health and Disabilities Commission has received 14 complaints about Ritalin since 2003.
Health and Disabilities Commissioner Ron Paterson said there were 32 complaints about psychiatrists working in New Zealand in the year ended June 30, 2007.
Nine of the complaints were about the assessment by the psychiatrist, nine about the medication, seven about the psychiatrist's conduct or the standard of care, and four were around the need for support. Three had not been defined.
"Even when there is a mistake made patients don't complain unless there is some underlying issue, they feel they were being fobbed off…I don't feel you listened to me," he said.
Other Options for Children With Behavioural Issues
Auckland GP Helen Smith questions whether the problem really lies with the children or New Zealand's educational system.
"If a child is having problems understanding the words of the subject they are studying they can start to fidget or daydream or doodle or become problematic in their behaviour."
Dr Smith had seen many cases where children's behaviour improved after one-on-one education with a tutor.
To be diagnosed with ADHD in New Zealand a child must display symptoms that appear in the DSM-VI, a list of psychiatric conditions complied by the American Psychological Society.
"The diagnosis of ADHD is based on an arbitrary checklist of symptoms voted into existence and not based on any actual proper physical scientific test or medical diagnosis," Dr Smith said.
Some of the psychiatrists involved in compiling the DSM-VI were found to have links to large translational companies involved in manufacturing pharmaceuticals. "If you tested a room of adults or children many of them would have things that are described on the "ADHD checklist" because these lists simply take parts of human behaviour and make it into a "disease" and then say there is a drug that needs to be taken to deal with this "disorder", she said.
"If there is some problem with their behaviour such as extra "hyper" for periods or aggressive etc there are some things to think about physically before labelling the child with the psychiatric diagnosis of "ADHD"
– Auckland GP Helen Smith
Four-Year-Old on Ritalin
A kindergarten teacher and preschool assessment psychologist diagnosed a four-year-old boy as "probably" having ADHD.
"His mother was confused and distraught, and spoke English as a second language, and thought the doctors were doing their best," Dr Smith said.
After almost a year the mother took the boy off Ritalin because she could see it was making him quiet and numb and not himself anymore, Dr Smith said.
"Ritalin Works For Me"
Rebecca Simons, 21, of Howick was diagnosed with ADD at age 12, and last year she was diagnosed with ADHD. She takes three Ritalin tablets a day, one with each meal, and two Prozac tablets in the morning.
"When I first started taking them my legs got really, really sore. I used to wake with really sore knees and my joints would ache."
These symptoms persisted for about one month and now the only side effects she experiences are low energy levels sometimes.
An Oxford Research study found Omega 3 Fish oil was more effective than Ritalin for treating ADHD.
Checklist to Rule Out ADHD
1) Excess sugar in the diet. 2) Skipping meals. 3) Undiagnosed food allergies eg. Gluten. 4) Eating packaged snacks or instant noodles containing MSG. 5) Vitamin deficiency. 6) Exposure to heavy metals such as mercury and lead.
SOURCE: Auckland GP Helen Smith
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