Sami Timimi and Jonathan Leo

Something strange has been happening to children in many Western societies in the past couple of decades. The diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has reached epidemic proportions, particularly amongst boys in North America. The diagnosis is usually made by a child psychiatrist or paediatrician with advocates of the diagnosis claiming that children who present with what the diagnoser considers to be overactivity, poor concentration and impulsivity are suffering from a medical condition which needs treatment with medication, mainly in the form of stimulants such as Ritalin, whose chemical properties are similar to the street drugs speed and cocaine. ADHD has become firmly established in many local cultures, particularly in North America, Australasia, and Northern Europe, with economically and politically powerful groups (such as drug companies, doctors, psychologists and teachers) having had a major, but often unacknowledged impact on local communities’ conceptions about the nature of childhood. A new category of childhood has emerged – that of the ADHD child.