Roy Porter Student Essay Prize WinnerPsychiatry Limited: Hyperactivity and the Evolution of American Psychiatry, 1957–1980
نویسنده
چکیده
Hyperactivity is the most commonly diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorder in north America. Most physicians believe that the disorder is a neurological dysfunction which is best treated with stimulants, such as ritalin. Accounts of the history of hyperactivity written by physicians, psychologists and even historians suggest that the disorder was always conceived as such. This paper argues that, on the contrary, the notion that hyperactivity was a neurological condition only emerged after vigorous debate during the 1960s between three competing fields within American psychiatry: specifically psychoanalysis, social psychiatry and biological psychiatry. Biological psychiatry won the debate, not because its approach to hyperactivity was more scientifically valid, but rather because its explanations and methods fit the prevailing social context more readily than that of its rivals. American psychiatry’s refusal to draw pluralistic conclusions about hyperactivity undermined the development of a deeper understanding of the disorder. The history of hyperactivity provides an ideal lens through which to view the evolution of psychiatry from a field dominated by Freudian psychoanalysis to one rooted in the neurosciences.
منابع مشابه
Roy Porter Student Prize Essay Boils, Pushes and Wheals: Reading Bumps on the Body in Early Modern England
Bodily bumps in early modern England were not simply collections of humors that needed to be lanced and drained. Diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of skin swellings comprised a deeply rich semiotics that both patients and healers read according to a range of biographical factors, incidents, sensations, observations and experiences. Using diaries and case histories in seventeenthcentury surgica...
متن کاملPrevalence of Mood Disorders in Mothers Of Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Background and purpose: Parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have more problems than parents of normal children due to the prevalence of behavioral abnormalities in children with ADHD. Mood disorders in parents, including mothers can lead to lower tolerance thresholds and the use of punitive methods to control the children, which can cause other complications...
متن کاملTHE PREVALENCE OF ADHD IN PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN TEHRAN
ABSTRACT Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is characterized by a developmental disorder involving inappropriate poor attention span or age-inappropriate features of hyperactivity and impulsivity and/or both. Methods: In order to assess the prevalence of children with ADHD in Tehran, a sample of 2667 children including both boys & girls aged between 7-12 years were sel...
متن کاملThe Impact of Self-Regulatory Strategies on the Essay Writing of EFL Students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
The complexity of self-regulatory strategies has been challenging to educational researchers who seek to find proper interventions that benefit students and teachers. This study has employed the Self-Regulatory Strategy Development (SRSD) model of instruction to help students monitor, evaluate and revise their writing. SRSD would be beneficial for adult students with learning disabilities in th...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Social History of Medicine
دوره 21 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2008