The Phenomenon of ADHD: A Cultural and Historical Perspective on the Rapid Rise of Attention-Deficit

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It’s a disorder that has gone by many names, and by many definitions. But the most consistent fact of this disorder is also the most unsettling – its prevalence. It is strikingly common, and, curiously, its diagnoses are only increasing in number. Present statistics and rates of diagnoses lead many to quite reasonably assume that we are experiencing an astonishing ADHD epidemic. Around the world, physicians and psychologists are discovering and diagnosing millions of cases each year, while educators and parents alike are increasingly concerned about this disorder and baffled about what to do with it. To combat the symptoms of ADHD, a booming pharmaceutical industry has developed, while innumerable experts are speaking and writing on the processes of diagnosis and treatment. It seems this is an epidemic that requires strong and immediate comba