While CCHR does not, itself, provide medical advice, the following alternatives are derived from years of working with health professionals who are qualified to address such medical issues.
What is the Underlying Physical Problem?
Here are some citations from sources worldwide that show the importance of looking for and finding any underlying physical causes of a mental issue:
- The California Department of Mental Health Medical Evaluation Field Manual states: “Mental health professionals working within a mental health system have a professional and a legal obligation to recognize the presence of physical disease in their patients…physical diseases may cause a patient’s mental disorder [or] may worsen a mental disorder.…”
- The Swedish Social Board cited several cases of disciplinary actions against psychiatrists, including one in which a patient was complaining of headaches, dizziness and staggering when he walked. The patient had complained of these symptoms to psychiatric personnel for five years before a medical check-up revealed that he had a brain tumor.
- Dr. Thomas Dorman says, “…please remember that the majority of people suffer from organic disease. Clinicians should, first of all, remember that emotional stress associated with a chronic illness or a painful condition can alter the patient’s temperament. In my practice, I have run across countless people with chronic back pain who were labeled neurotic. A typical statement from these poor patients is ‘I thought I really was going crazy.’” Often, he said, the problem may have been “simply an undiagnosed ligament problem in the back.”(14)
ADHD: Help Without Mind-Altering Drugs
German psychiatrist Paul Runge says he’s helped more than 100 children without using psychiatric drugs. He has also helped reduce the dosages of drugs prescribed by other physicians.
Dr. Lidy M.J. Pelsser of the Research Center for Hyperactivity and ADHD in Middelburg, The Netherlands, found that 62% of children diagnosed with “ADHD” showed significant improvements in behavior as a result of a change in diet over a period of three weeks. Many medical studies show the following could be causing the child’s symptoms:
- High levels of lead from the environment place children at risk of both school failure and delinquent behavior (7)
- High mercury (chemical) levels in the body (8)
- Pesticide exposure causes nervousness, poor concentration, irritability, memory problems and depression (9)
- Too much sugar (10)
- Allergies, environmental toxins (11, 12)
- Gases, cleaning fluids, scents and other chemicals can make a child irritable, inattentive or hyperactive (13)
- Malnutrition (14)
- Eye or ear trouble (15)
- Worms (16)
Educational problems can be the result of a lack of or no phonics (understanding the sounds of letters and their combinations) in school. (17) Creative and/or intelligent children become bored, fidget, wiggle, scratch, stretch, will not focus and start looking for ways to get into trouble. (18) There may be an unchallenging curriculum. Goal-oriented children have a rough time focusing unless a specific challenging goal is given to them. A simple lack of discipline may also be the cause of behavioral issues. (19)
