ADHD: Three Competing Discourses

Abstract

What follows in this chapter is a discourse analysis of the ADHD phenomenon from three major perspectives. To this aim, I have attempted to focus upon the most pre-eminent discussants in the conversation about ADHD, which include the medical, psychodynamic, and sociological viewpoints. On the medical front, I will focus upon the early conversations surrounding ADHD. As we will see, ADHD has an important presence in the medical record, stretching back to the late 19th century, which has focused upon the increasing interest of medicine in childhood deviance, academic performance, and life chances of children. The psychodynamic viewpoint was largely practised in clinical settings prior to the advent of widespread psychopharmacology in therapeutic circles. The psychodynamic viewpoint essentially argues that patterns of disruptive childhood behaviour emanate from interactive dynamics within the family and a lack of psychological well-being in children. From the sociological view, ADHD is a product of a variety of social forces that have created a type of perfect storm within which the ADHD diagnosis has gained momentum over time, and therefore an increasing legitimacy. The legitimacy of ADHD, or any social phenomenon for that matter, is a product of the conglomeration of enough agreement, or enough overlap of perspectives, rather than the discovery of a bona fide neurological or psychological cause.