The Perfect Medicine For
Our Troubled Children
Review by Irene Alleger

Rage-Free Kids by Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, MSW and Robert Ullman, ND
Prima Publishing, RO. Box 1260BICC, Rocklin, California 95677 USA;
915-632-4400 1999, softcover, $15 US, $22 Canada, 318 pp.

I freely adrnit my bias towards homeopathic medicine - I do not know of any other medicine that fits the needs of these particular children as well as homeopathy. There are a number of reasons for this: first of all, it treats the whole person, not the disease entity, and this is especially important as there can be many underlying causes of aggressive and violent behavior in children and a single correct remedy can address all the manifestations. Second, homeopathy is extremely safe and non-toxic; as an alternative to very potent, dangerous and often ineffective, pharmaceutical drugs. The field of psychiatry is a quagmire these days; the treatment of most newly diagnosed illnesses in children is to prescribe the latest psychoactive drug. Even the AMA has recently questioned the use of many of these drugs in children.

Despite the continuing interest and research into alternative medicine, homeopathy is possibly the least wellknown alternative system of medicine in this country, although it is widely used throughout Europe and Asia. There has continued to be scientific' controversy regarding the mechanism of action of homeopathy. (Conventional medicine acknowledges a mechanism called hormesis, the stimulation of the body's immune system by microdoses of toxic or causative elements.) Clinical evidence suggests that homeopathic remedies work by somehow giving the immune system the particular stimulant needed to perform its function of restoring health, or homeostasis.

Almost daily now, there are reports of exciting new research into all forms ofenergy medicine, and homeopathy is basically an energy medicine. The authors explain the rudiments of this system of medicine in Part 2 ofRage-Free Kids, after a wide-ranging introduction and discussion of what makes children violent.

The authors cite abuse, physical and sexual, as the most common denominator of these disturbed children. Child abuse, it seems, has been with us forever, so why now, you n-dght ask, is this contributing to such widespread disruptive and violent behavior? In Part 1 the many factors involved are examined: the predominance of violent "entertainment" aimed at children; easy access to guns; lack of parental supervision; chemicals in the environment, and the growing numbers of developmental and learning disorders.

In Part 3 a fascinating group of clinical cases from the authors' practice are reported which illustrate

the success of homeopathic remedies for all the varying degrees of aggressive behavior of children. These real patient stories cover Temper Tantrums in Toddlers, ADHD plus Anger, Defiant and Disobedient, and Choosing Wrong over Right. This latter group focuses on adolescents such as those involved in school shootings, who are diagnosed with conduct disorder, the chief symptoms of which are aggressiveness, stealing, lying, truancy, setting fires, and running away from home. There is a consensus among practitioners who treat children that it is very important to intervene early with these at-risk children.

A tragic consequence of lack of effective treatment for these adolescents is that they wind up behind bars. Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley, coauthors of Ghost In The Nursery, are quoted: "If our present rates of incarceration continue, one out of every twenty babies born in the US today will spend some part of their adult lives in state or federal prison.... According to the New York Times, the number of individuals incarcerated in the US will soon be greater than those attending colleges and universities."

These chilling statistics only reinforce the current headlines we see every week now. American children are in trouble, and the conventional medical reliance on pharmaceutical drugs to the exclusion of any other kind of treatment, is a failure. Some of the boys involved in school shootings were being treated with psychoactive drugs. They may be doing more harm than anyone knows, since there has been no research on the use of these drugs in children and adolescents.

In Rage-Free Kids the Ullmans present a safe and effective alternative for parents of aggressive, violent or defiant children - one that parents should investigate before putting their child at risk with pharmaceutical drugs.