Research from The National Institute of Mental Health has revealed that popular Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) drugs like Ritalin are responsible for causing sudden death in many children. Study numbers indicate a 500 percent increased risk in childhood death from taking such mental health drugs.For years, many experts, scientists, and health practitioners have speculated that ADD drugs are dangerous and can cause serious injury and death. Etta Brown, a licensed educational psychologist and author of Learning Disabilities: Understanding the Problem and Managing the Challenges, explained in response to the study that drugs like Ritalin actually destroy the neural function in children's brains. As a result, children who have undergone treatment with Ritalin will actually have a much more difficult time processing information and learning new things.Brown also notes that Ritalin is responsible for causing a permanent tic in the face, neck, and head of many of the children who have taken or are taking it. Ironically, Ritalin is responsible for causing far more serious neurological damage than the problems it is alleged to treat. Comprehensive studies over the years have revealed that while drugs like Ritalin visibly calm children, these drugs destroy their delicate, developing nervous systems and can permanently cripple their ability to function as normal human beings.Ritalin remains one of the primary drugs prescribed for children with supposed behavioral problems. Rather than be encouraged to modify diet and increase exercise, children are being given drugs by their doctors instead. Increases in behavioral and learning problems among children have been increasing right alongside escalating levels of environmental toxins. Children are also spending more time at home alone while their parents work, eating greater amounts of junk food, and not getting adequate sleep.Etta Brown, and others, suggest better nutrition, adequate sleep, and increased exercise and physical activity as a proper treatment for children with behavioral and learning disabilities. Nutrition alone is of vital importance since inadequate nutrient intake is arguably the most significant factor in children's inability to behave and learn. Proper brain function cannot be achieved if the brain is not being fed what it needs to process information and grow.Parental guidance in regulating and maintaining a proper lifestyle for their children is also vital if true improvement is ever to be achieved. Medical professionals, child psychologists, and others will have to come to grips with the fact that drugs are not the answer to childhood developmental problems.