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‘I Bambini e le Droghe’: The Right to Ritalin vs the Right to Childhood in Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

Giovanni Frazzetto ,
Sinéad Keenan  and
Ilina Singh
Giovanni Frazzetto*
Affiliation:
BIOS, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AEUK
Sinéad Keenan
Affiliation:
BIOS, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AEUK
Ilina Singh
Affiliation:
BIOS, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AEUK
*
*E-mail: g.frazzetto@lse.ac.uk
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Abstract

Despite the widespread consumption of stimulant drugs such as Ritalin (methylphenidate) for the treatment of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), understanding of the differing national realities of the ADHD/methylphenidate phenomenon is especially impoverished. In this article, we give an introductory description of the scientific-historical, cultural and ideological factors that have shaped the diagnosis of ADHD and its treatment in Italy. Qualitative empirical analysis of the national debate on the use of methylphenidate and of parents’ experiences with the drug reveals that, in the Italian context, the evolution of the ADHD/Ritalin phenomenon has been largely shaped by dynamics within the country’s psychiatric practices and health system, as well as by attitudes towards mental illness. We suggest that in Italy, the current dynamics in the regulation of methylphenidate inscribe ADHD diagnosis and stimulant drug treatment as moral choices. On both the political and the familial level, these choices are grounded in sometimes opposing conceptions of vital civil rights and national ideals: the ‘right to medication’, the ‘right to mental health care’ and the ‘right to childhood’. Our study illustrates that close analysis of specific cultural contexts can be useful in understanding how attitudes towards mental disorders and the use of psychotropic drugs can be shaped by the social practices and medical habits of a country.

Keywords

attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)childhoodItalyneuroethicsRitalinstigma
Type
Articles
Information
BioSocieties , Volume 2 , Issue 4 , December 2007 , pp. 393 - 412
Copyright
Copyright © London School of Economics and Political Science 2007

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