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Antecedents of ADHD: a historical account of diagnostic concepts

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ADHD Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorders

Abstract

The concept of ADHD has evolved gradually and still carries some traces of its origins. The idea of uncontrolled behaviour as a medical problem arose in eighteenth and nineteenth century accounts. It raised cultural issues about how far control was expected of children. This article traces the development of ideas with particular references to Hoffman’s “Struwwelpeter”, Frederick Still’s “Disorders of Moral Control”, minimal brain damage, and the hyperkinetic syndrome.

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Notes

  1. His consignment of his own children to institutional care was widely cited against him, but did not discredit his views.

  2. Or, indeed, showing multiple tics—is there a suggestion of jaw protrusion?—or a Weinberg syndrome with a sudden sleep attack? One could multiply explanations; it is simply not a case history.

  3. Deriving ultimately from Galton and Social Darwinism; and also giving rise to the eugenics movement. Tredgold’s writings were influential in Britain and the USA; they did not seem to catch on in France.

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  1. Emeritus Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK

    Eric Taylor

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  1. Eric Taylor
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Correspondence to Eric Taylor.

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Taylor, E. Antecedents of ADHD: a historical account of diagnostic concepts. ADHD Atten Def Hyp Disord 3, 69–75 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12402-010-0051-x

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