Free Documentaries Online

It's very sad that this kind of rubbish ends up on this otherwise terrific site.
If you don't know who Gary Null is (Producer, director and writer of this film) then maybe you should know that in his previous movies he tackled subjects such as AIDS not being cased by HIV, autism being made up whole cloth, curing strokes and heart diseases without medication and a lot more of irresponsible drivel.

It's a shame that this douche bag gets an audience.

You are insinuating that viewing this documentary can be considered educational for parents making choices about health care for their children.
Nothing could be further from the truth.

This is a conspiracy theory, the evil doctors are bought by the supremely evil pharmaceutical companies.
A few maverick autodidacts has seen through this great conspiracy.
It's ridiculous!

Stimulants among other medication are used to help some people with ADHD.
The doctor describes them to see if they have beneficial effects, if there is good reasons to expect that it will.
It's not out of malice or greed, if they don't see the effects that they are looking for they stops medicating all together or tries something else.

There is so much garbage thrown at the viewer that I couldn't possibly answer it all.
ADHD is real, doctors describe what is proven to work. End of story.
Grow up people, the monster doctors was just a fantasy.

Yes haricots, putting amphetamines and anti-depressants into our children is a great idea.
the fact that the problem of adhd seem exclusive to the USA and the younger generations indicates to me that something is very wrong.
im sure there are conditions that are eased by using synthetic chemicals, but i am totaly against giving these to developing children.

i suspect, by the strength of your opinion, that you or someone close to you is on said medication… denial wont help

Haricot, i think people are over-diagnosing the problem, humans evolved tens of thousand of years ago and have done fine without children needing to take amphetamines. why all of sudden in the past 50 years do we need to start?? its crazy and it driven by profit.

twas purley based on the strength of your opinion that i made that assumption and still do, i can accept your points however, its not individuals that are to blame, it just the nature of the beast. I know i wont be giving my kids any methylphenidate (unless there going to a party ;)
Jim USA

"mmmm, Children….drugs er bad…ummmm-kay? Tell yer parents you don"t do drugs….ummm_kay?" -Mr Mackey, Southpark

adhd is not an impairment.
I have it.
It was only ever an 'impairment' for me because other people thought it was. they could not accept that i simply function differently.
Somehow, I managed to avoid being drugged, thank god.
Everyone I know who was drugged for their 'impairment' ended up using illicit drugs to try and solve their emotional problems later in life.
thats what you teach little kids when you give them amphetamines for their "issues".

Hummm Just a hint here.

If the drugging of the children is more common in the US, could it be because publicity directly aimed at the children is allowed in the US?
It's the only major country in which advertising to kids of all ages is legal. Even Canadians know better!

Check this disturbing one : http://www.documentary-log.com/d367-the-commercialization-of-childhood/
and imagine…

As someone with ADD I can tell you that it definitely exists, though it may be over diagnosed in children who act up. I wasn't given medication as a child, and I'm glad because I'm not sure I could comprehend the mental changes and other effects that occur when using the medicine. Stimulants can be very nasty, but now that I'm an adult I can make the decision to use them. I've found the medicine that gives me the best results with the fewest side effects (focalin, if interested), and it definitely helps me focus.

I was never hyperactive, but before using the medication I couldn't read a single page of a book without losing focus. I would read maybe 5 pages without realizing I had lost focus, and I would have to go back and re-read them. It was so bad, I never did my homework or read the books, but I scraped by because I'm smart and have a very good memory when I am focused. Sometimes people would talk to me, and I'd get lost in my own head and not even realize they were speaking.

Once I started using the medication my grades soared, and I became much more outgoing and confident. It pains me to see people trash these drugs and doctors for prescribing them when they have helped me and others so much. Now I'm about to graduate college with a degree in biochemistry which I chose to study in part because I'm fascinated by the vast difference that these small molecules can make.

I'm perfectly willing to entertain the notion that you may very well be among those rare cases I mentioned that might require some form of medication.

Such personal testimonials, however, do nothing to disprove my main point: Lack of tangible consequence is the root cause of most negative behavior issues in humans of any age.

PS: Spare me the trite hippy crap, Jack. You're smarter than that.

Your main point seems to be that your beliefs are flawed and that you just can't accept it, or at least make an effort to understand.

Perhaps you're wrong eh. And if , to you, that never seems to be the case, talking to you is pointless. If getting beaten worked for you, try to imagine other ways. There are much better options.

Abuse of all kinds and neglect are the main causes of mental health degradation, even to adults. If your brain is bigger than your hand, then, it might mean you should use it more often.

And, in case you didn't notice, we are highly exposed to American culture here, this proximity explains why we are more Americanized, even in the doping of our kids, then people from the old continent.

Americanization… Advertising directed at youth… Child abuse… The size of my hand…

*chuckles*

Am I actually going to have to ask you to remain focused in a thread about ADD, Jacques? Oh the irony! ;-)

None of this has anything to do with the price of tea in China… Nor is it relevant to the point you are trying (emphasis on "trying") to refute, which is:

Lack of tangible consequence is the root cause of most negative behavior issues in humans of any age.

Judging from your comments, you fit in the "Knowsitall", category.

Really chuck? I wouldn't be so sure about that.
And anyways, who could possibly care chuckling chuck?

I was diagnosed with ADD, and they gave me concerta and aderol, and even though it gave me energy and helped me focus, I was irritable, and on edge, and felt like my thoughts and feelings were numbed. It cut my appetite and sometimes I'd go so long without wanting food I'd get light headed and almost feint. and I'd get stressed out because my pulse was heightened. I think people who have "ADD" or "ADHD" are actually really smart people because their minds are moving so fast. DRUGS DON'T HELP YOU. because after you come off them you are MORE unbalanced than you were before. and you feel less intelligent.

A very good documentary indeed and it should not be classified under the heading of "Mystery, Conspiracy" as someone had suggested here earlier.

Like the documentary says, it is a quick, immediate fix that does not really care to identify the root of the "problem", much less to address it adequately. It is just easier for many people involved to deal with that in such way and profitable for the pharmaceutical companies.

We used to be given candies…

Today, the expression "feeling down" is so easily and irresponsibly substituted by the term "depression", and our candies, and our emotional strength and support by those who cared about us, by tranquilizers and anti-depressants. That word was not in our every-day vocabulary, nor that type of medications on our menu.

Today's society is a fast-pace one and only because our world revolves around dollar, material stuff and "success". We lost the solidarity and the system of real, important and long-term values. We are in search for fast fixes. When I, for example, read that there is this diet on which you can lose so many pounds in 2 weeks or one month, I just get allergic reaction. How can you expect to lose so much pounds in a few days when you were building that fat storage for months and maybe years. Now you want to see it disappear in just 2 weeks?! Our children suffer due to the same mentality-our lack of will and patience to really do things the right and harder way. We are raising our children in many aspects just sinfully WRONG!

It is wrong that two boys of the same age living one beside the other would be each in their own dark room playing video games instead of spending time together and playing better games. For example, it is terrible that the younger generations today do not know how to go out and have fun without altering their brain chemistry with alcohol and drugs…and they are proud of it.

P.S. A documentary should be also made about lives of our grandparents and parents being drugged in the retirement homes.

OK, if you want F Y I's! Factoids taken directly from the sponsors link at the top of this very page!

(speaking of the "condition")
* In the United States, approximately 9% of the school-age population is diagnosed with ADHD.
* It's the most commonly diagnosed behavioral condition in children today.
* there's no cure for ADHD
* symptoms of the condition can be effectively managed with a once-a-day prescription

(no these arent money grubbing pharma companys – only one out of every ten kids you see needs their meds FOREVER!)

(and, the ad again, speaking of the medication)

* 91% found that their child gets into less trouble and has fewer arguments at home

* can help your child manage daily challenges….and improve his or her social interactions in less-structured environments.
* enhances the availability of the brain's chemical messengers dopamine and norepinephrine
* a necessary part of your childs everyday routine.

And not to run on, and on with my comment (because I hate when people do that, as I, of course, have ADD, too, and can never focus long enough to read to the end of them) but I found these fun facts from a 2009 publication of the
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

* In 2004, 28.3 million combined total prescriptions were written for (the top 5 most commonly prescribed) ADHD drugs; in 2008, that total was 39.5 million
* When parents were given a prescription for a drug and then told to enroll their children in behavioral intervention programs, 75 percent did not seek out the behavioral approaches

(if we had emoticons, the "head scratch" one would go here _)

Why is everybody so sure that the government is drugging kids??? Surely they have better things to focus on…..?!

Woah!!! Why the unnecessary hostility frog on log??

That was merely the tone I picked up from the documentary… nothing more.

And if you took your own advice and trawled through the past comments you will find ones like this….

""the establishment needs docile and obedient drones, and drugs is one of the way it can be done…give pills to kids from young age and that`s it."

Chill out! Everyones entitled to their own opinions without being jumped on – please let me express mine without ridiculing me.

"Thanks"

whoa…after watching this i just wanna punch somebody in the face, but i dont know who…

iskari god does forbid individuality, all aspects of religion does.

"what's with the paycheck comment?"

That would be what's known as a "joke" (you can Google it if you need more background on the subject). ;-)

Imperien – Now THAT was funny. Love ya, babe

Bob – yeah, what he said.

(& because I though your name was somewhat clever, Bob – Geeezzze. Now why'd you make me re-think that!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

can anyone else who has past experience with cocaine and these pills agree that these meds are stronger than the banned narcotic? This is opening entire generations to amphetamine related dependencies.

This documentary is very good. I am a special education teacher. I have a self-contained classroom full of children who are considered to have emotional disturbance/behavior disorder. So basically a whole classroom full of "bad" kids. And some of them are. Every single last one of them is labeled ADD/ADHD. In my three years of teaching I have had about 20 different students, and I can tell you there is only 1 I truly believed had that disorder.

I can tell 9 times out of 10 after meeting the parent I know why the student is in my classroom and it isn't because of anything physically or psychologically within the child. A lot of times it's the parent! I pick these kids up and put them in this little area in my room. I basically give them consequences for the first time in their life and they start behaving. I would say only about 4 of the 20 students I've had I truly believe have had real disorders.

The psychologist who worked in my room last year and I were talking how we really think that psychological disorders are not diagnosed the same way and that we do need to start finding physical symptoms and throw the DSVM manual out.

I have one student who is in my room and for the life of me has been a complete angel and I looked in his file and talked to his grandmother to find out how he got into my room. She said he was throwing chairs and getting upset all the time. Come to find out this happened at about the same time his mother was incarcerated. The kid doesn't have a behavior disorder! He's upset because his mother got taken away.

I have a teacher now who wants me to talk to the parent of a child who she thinks should be on medicine. I have this child in my after school tutoring program and I had problems with him the first day and told him to sit down NOW! in an aggressive manner. Haven't had a problem since.

However, this brings me to another problem with the school system that the parents have created. Nobody wants their little Johnny told what to do. Don't be mean to my little Johnny. I see little shit head kids all the time whose parents think we're being mean to their little angels. I recently had a student disregard my request to walk in the hall ways three times so I went up to him when I finally caught up with him and said, "look, when a n adult in this building gives you a request, you need to follow it out of respect, do you understand." The grandpa tried to get all upset with me. I told too bad! I know why your kid won't listen.

Another problem is that teacher's are constantly told that everybody needs to be here, reading at this level and that level. Doing math at this level. Problem is, not every kid is interested, not every kid is smart (that's right I said it), not every kid is going to be the top, the best. We are given curriculum that doesn't work but aren't allowed to use other stuff. When you have 30 kids in a classroom, half who are learning the English language, and a kid can't concentrate…well…So these problems are being created elsewhere as well.

I had another student who ended up in the hospital with liver failure. The principal the next week wanted to know why the student was acting up and I explained he needed to be taken off his meds. The principal got upset until I explained the child almost died. It's a confusing situation sometimes.

Finally, I too was on Effexor. The lowest dose. I was given it by my doctor because I was depressed. I had been in school, living with my husband and his parents, his mother who was dying, my father had died the year before, I was stuck in a stressful job while going to school. Nobody asked me why I was upset and gave me a drug, that yes, makes you numb to the pain, doesn't fix the problem. I too had horrible nightmares, and when I went off had the same problem the kid did, I cried and cried for no reason and flew into rages. These drugs are powerful.

Sometimes people do need help.

So what your saying is, that ADD is homogeneous, and is consistant with everyone with ADD, or everyone with this effected area has ADD? If not, you are looking at correlation. Also, it is not even ADD, you are looking at an effected area of the brain not a psychological disorder. This is the whole basis of saying ADD does not exist as more then a group of broad symptoms.