History of ADHD

The history of the term “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” is a short one; it was given the current clinical nomenclature in 1987.

But the history of ADHD goes beyond a simple name. The trademark inattentiveness and fidgeting of the behavioral disorder have been noticed and documented for centuries. 

Early History of ADHD

As early as 1798, Sir Alexander Crichton, a Scottish-born doctor, studies what he called “mental restlessness” in children that every schoolteacher must have seen.

More than 100 years later, Sir George Frederick Still of Britain wrote about observations in 43 children that included behavioral and inattentiveness problems. He called it, “a morbid defect in moral control.” While not exactly the specific terminology used today, many experts believe the characteristics Still saw in those children in 1902 would be classified as ADHD today.

The first major success in treating children’s behavioral disorders was in 1937, when Dr. Charles Bradley introduced the use of stimulants to children with hyperactivity. The treatment worked with limited results but set the path for current treatments.

Modern History of ADHD

Throughout the 20^th century, behavioral and attentive disorders went through numerous names and classifications.

Common ADHD has been called “minimal brain damage,” “minimal brain dysfunction,” and simply “hyperactivity.”

However, it was given clinical terminology “hyperkinetic reaction of childhood” in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) in the second volume in 1968. The DSM is the commonly used standards and terminology for classification of mental disorders.

In the DSM-III, it was termed “attention-deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity.” In the latest version, the DSM-IV, the term “attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” is used.

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