RITAIN FREE KIDS by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman

As its title indicates, this book strongly argues against the use of the drug Ritalin in the treatment of attention deficit disorder (ADD). The key to the authors' viewpoint lies in Chapter 3, headed "An Epidemic of ADD or a Matter of Overdiagnosis?" They point out that children, like the rest of us, live in "an extremely overstimulated society," with Nintendo replacing outdoor play, movies and TV stressing violence, and beepers providing instant and overly urgent communication. Children respond to the resulting stresses differently from adults and accordingly require different treatment. Because the authors are homeopathic physicians, they not unexpectedly prefer homeopathic solutions to the problem?a "whole person approach" that in some cases may be combined with traditional treatments. In any event, they make a reasonably convincing case for the idea that drugs can be both misapplied and overused and that chemical panaceas are not always the best answer.