ABSTRACT
Those who went to primary or elementary school some years back will remember the ‘wild kid’ in the classroom. He could never sit still; he was always talking out of turn; he was constantly getting into trouble with the teachers. On the playground he would pick fights with others and, as often as not, he would end up in the principal’s or headmaster’s office by the end of the day. By high school we heard that he was doing drugs and had had his first brush with the law. Later we would hear that he had dropped out of college (if he went at all) and had never been able to make anything of his career. Possibly he ‘fell in with the wrong sort’ and ended up in much more serious trouble with the law. Perhaps he is now behind bars. Increasingly, new pharmaceutical products are beginning to change this pattern – at least for those who have access to them. The first step is to define the condition as a medical condition rather than as a moral shortcoming (‘he’s just a bad kid’) or purely legal issue. Vast numbers of schoolchildren are now diagnosed with some form of ‘attention deficit hyperactivity disorder’ or ADHD. The introduction of Prozac in 1987 and the prevalence of Ritalin in the 1990s was heralded as hope for hyperactive children and those who had difficulty controlling their impulses. Now they can sit still and learn, develop friendships with other children, and remain ‘mainstreamed’ in the educational system. Books started appearing with titles such as Finding Myself Again Through Prozac, Prozac as a Way of Life, and Why Ritalin Rules.
