Ritalin, the psychostimulant drug methyphenidate, belongs to the group of Amphetamines. In adult people it acts as a psychostimulant which causes severe addiction while, for still unknown reasons, it has a sedating effect in children. In the;ater case the physical side-effects may range from nausea, weight loss, sleep problems, tics and growth suppression to heart disease and also, rarely, autism (Breggin, 1999; Taylor, 1994).

However, the psychological side-effects of long term treatment are just begining to be investigated. McGuiness reports follow-up studies on children with ADHD medicated with Ritalin. They present a lowering in self-esteem and suppressed creativity: 'the children come to view the drug as a crutch and feel helpless in controlling their own behaviour without it' (McGuiness 1989 : 180). Moreover, parents renounce any awareness that family events, parental tensions, attachment difficulties, traumatic events or similar problems affect their children. If, on the one hand, the psychiatric diagnosis may relieve an unbearable guilt in the parents it may, on the other hand absolve them from any resposibility for, and awareness of, some of the possible causes at the root of this problem.

The effects of Ritalin do not seem to last and parents frequently 'seek help up to one and a half years after treatment has been tried but failed to create a long-lasting improvement' (Widener, 1998 : 271). Those parents often ask for psychotherapy as an alternative to the first failed drug treatment. Breggin (1998) reviewed the side-effects of Ritalin and observed that the loving attention of fathers is often a curative element in these hyperactive children.