THE use of psychiatric drugs for children has risen dramatically in the past few years.

But while some critics claim that drugs are being used to mask the underlying causes of troubled behaviour, one Highworth mum reckons they have given her daughter back.

Eight-year-old Meghan Franklin has ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and is one of the 300,000 people in the UK being prescribed Ritalin.

It is a mild stimulant, an amphetamine that works on the central nervous system to improve the concentration. For children like Meghan it has proven to have a calming effect, allowing them to cope more effectively with social situations.

"No parent wants to put their child on drugs," explained Sara Franklin.

The 37-year-old mother-of-two, who lives in Lismore Road, said: "We had to think long and hard about this. While it is not ideal, we feel that the drug helps our daughter concentrate at school.

"Because of her condition Meghan is constantly on the go. She will not sit still for a minute. This drug allows her to control herself in social situations, especially at school."

Sara, a former forklift truck driver, admitted that the drug was not an ideal solution, but agreed with her husband Nigel that the drug was their best option.

She added: "We use Ritalin to help Meghan control herself at school.

"In the evenings and over the weekend, we don't put her on the drug.

"It is harder work for us, but we do it because we want our daughter back. She is like a different person when she is on Ritalin, but we think it is something we have to use if she is to have any chance of getting along with other people her age.

"Everyone feels wary about giving drugs to their children, but we feel it is the best thing to do."

It was the teachers who first noticed that there was something different about Meghan in her first school year.

Sara explained: "As a parent, you know if there is something wrong. Meghan was my first child, so I didn't know if I was spoiling her. She used to have dreadful temper tantrums. Things came to a head when she refused to get into her school clothes one day so I took her to school in her pyjamas.

"I knew there was something really wrong because she seemed happy to spend the whole day at school in her night clothes. She didn't seem to care."

Sara turned to the experts at the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Unit at Marlborough House in Swindon, where psychiatrists diagnosed Meghan with ADHD.

She said: "It was a relief in many ways. We always knew that there was something wrong, but we could not help feeling that we were somehow to blame."