Unfortunately, due to the strong left-brain preferences of the modern world, the Indigo Children are often misunderstood by non-Indigo adults because they don't fit into expected patterns of behavior. As Jan Tober in a recent interview explains: ''They've got children who would appear to be hyperactive, who have a low attention span, who can't stand in line . . .''[1] So perhaps it makes sense that many of these children have been caught up in the diagnostic epidemic of ADD/ADHD diagnoses.

Since 1985, the incidence of diagnosed ADD/ADHD cases has increased from 500,000 to almost 7,000,000 (as of 1999).[2] According to the American Psychiatric Association, symptoms include indicators of inattention (difficulty paying attention, easily distracted, forgetfulness, failing to finish tasks, and organizational difficulties) and of hyperactivity (fidgeting, talking excessively and being constantly active).[3] Many Indigo Children are being carelessly labeled with this ''disorder'' and placed on a typical behavior-modification regime that often includes the stimulant Ritalin (methylphenidate). In this process, educators, parents, and doctors usually not only overlook the children's uniqueness as Indigos, but discount other factors, such as medications, food allergies, diet, and fatigue -- factors that not only typically affect childhood behavior patterns but also those of adults.[4]

And in this regime, many of these children are being medicated by a substance that is considered by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to be a Schedule II drug, indicating a significant risk of abuse; a classification that includes amphetamines, cocaine, morphine, opium, and barbiturates.[5] Not surprisingly, nonmedical use of Ritalin (which is often crushed and snorted or ''cooked'' for intravenous injection) has flourished on college campuses; ''the drug of choice by college students who were brought up on it.''[6] According to a 1995 DEA press release, in March 1995 alone, two deaths (in Mississippi and Virginia) were associated with the snorting of Ritalin powder.[7] The stimulant has even been banned in Sweden due to abuse.[8] Despite this, the percentage of ADD/ADHD-diagnosed children being prescribed Ritalin has bounded from 55 percent in 1989 to 75 percent in 1996.[9]

Side effects of Ritalin include nervousness, insomnia, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, palpitations, headaches, skin rash, itching, elevation/depression of heart rate and blood pressure, abdominal pain, weight loss, digestive problems, toxic (drug-induced) psychosis, psychotic episodes, drug-dependence syndrome, and severe depression upon withdrawal.[10] Dr. Peter Breggin adds to the list: decreased blood flow to the brain, disruption of growth hormone, permanent neurological tics (Tourette's Syndrome), decreased ability to learn, and possible shrinkage of brain tissues. He points out that often the drug causes a worsening of hyperactivity and inattention, the very ADD/ADHD symptoms it is supposed to cure![11] This year, three lawsuits have been filed in Texas, New Jersey and California citing Novartis (formerly Ciba Geigy), the manufacturer of Ritalin, for failing to provide consumers and doctors with adequate information concerning the hazards of this drug. (CHADD [Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder] and the American Psychiatric Association have also been cited in this matter).

But even more disturbing than the possibility of these side effects is the zombie-like personality that results when Ritalin ''works'' like it's supposed to. At best, it produces docile and obedient children; but its darker side reveals children with inhibited exploratory drives, or reduced curiosity, initiative, and spontaneity.[12] How destructive must this be to children for whom creativity and right-brained consciousness is a natural state of being!

Why the rampage? Why has the production of Ritalin increased sevenfold from 1991 to 1999?[13] Certainly drug-company politics play a role in this ADD/Ritalin frenzy. Novartis, currently being sued for suppressing significant information about Ritalin, rakes in $30 to $60 each month for every medicated child, more than half of the seven million diagnosed.[14] It has recently been revealed that Novartis has secretly given nearly $900 million in undisclosed contributions to CHADD, the non-profit parent organization who has been lobbying to get Ritalin reclassified from a Schedule II drug.[15] And the drug companies aren't the only beneficiaries; juvenile admissions to psychiatric hospitals have escalated, as has federal funding to schools with ADD/ADHD kids.[16]

Another interesting component to the why question has been posed by Richard DeGrandpre, who queries the cultural contingencies and implications of the ADD/Ritalin epidemic. He cites that the development of a rapid-fire culture has engendered inattentive, hyperactive children.[17] Certainly, in the case of the Indigos, it would seem that the intense pace of a left-brained world consumed by achievement and accumulation of material goods has aggravated the situation. The reality of this cultural context begs that we begin to seek other alternatives beyond drugs, beyond the ''easy fix.'' The upshot is, our Indigo kids are being drugged into submission when there are many alternative approaches that will improve their lives.

The amplitude of non-drug alternatives for children who demonstrate ADD/ADHD symptoms underscores the narrowness of the Ritalin approach. Aside from the long list of short- and long-term side effects, any conceivable benefit that Ritalin could possibly offer is gone as soon as the medicine wears off. On the other hand, bio/neurofeedback presents a method by which the child can monitor his/her brainwaves, gain a consciousness of existing patterns and become an active participant in initiating appropriate adjustments. To the Indigo mind, probably already marred by negative labeling at home and at school, this method can be empowering, restoring a sense of control.[18] Likewise, homeopathy is a respectful therapy that moves beyond the labeling of a behavior ''problem,'' treating the whole person rather than a symptom, and catering to the individuality of the child.[19]

Other available options include rapid-eye technology, EMF balancing, chronic reversed-polarity therapy, magnetic healing work, and neuromuscular integration.[20] Likewise, these therapies are interactive and nonjudgmental and serve to reinforce a child's sense of empowerment, self-esteem and control. Nutritional enhancements, such as blue-green algae or other marketed dietary supplements, like ''Smart Start'' or Pycnogenol, offer a combination of vitamins, minerals and herbal components that are often missing from the modern diet and that may provide much-needed elements to a child's body and brain.[21] In addition, there are diets/cookbooks available that also address the possibility of a food allergy or sensitivity to additives or environmental toxins.[22] Furthermore, stress-reducing, spiritual practices shared by parent and child, such as yoga, deep breathing, stretching and meditation, could be a welcome addition to the home life of an Indigo.

Peter Breggin, in Talking Back to Ritalin, criticizes some of these alternative therapies, stating that ''they risk rejecting the reality that . . . most ADHD-like symptoms signal a conflict between children and the adults in their lives.''[23] It seems to me that to reject an alternative method that fits the needs of some children is unnecessary, but Breggin's point certainly stresses the need for a response beyond the boundaries of therapeutic approach. In other words, perhaps we, as parents, friends, teachers and physicians, need to begin to seek out ways to modify our own behaviors and expectations when interacting with these children; to renegotiate and reconfigure the lens through which we observe and judge our children. There are educational facilities that have begun to do this. The Montessori school system, the Waldorf schools, and others have developed curriculums that cater to the individual, prioritize student needs over fitting them to a system, and offer children choices and flexibility in their learning experiences.[24] And of course there is always the option of home schooling.

But the strongest impact can be felt at home. As Lee Carroll and Jan Tober have pointed out in The Indigo Children, these children cannot be raised in an old-school paradigm. It doesn't work. In a recent interview, Jan Tober reduced the successful parenting formula to two words: choices, and negotiation.[25] Basically, these children require respect and honor, independence, guidelines and responsibilities rather than rules, and the freedom to be who they are.[26]

It seems that the underlying requirements here are love, understanding, respect, and flexibility. The time for fitting children, any child, into a cookie-cutter mold has long since passed. Perhaps as adults we need to rethink our roles, to begin to focus on growing with our children, rather than simply overseeing the rigors of their growing up. It is here, in this energy of acceptance and love, that our beloved Indigos can flourish and begin to fulfill their purpose for coming to Earth.

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