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Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a critique of the concept

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 August 2018

S. Timimi
S. Timimi*
Affiliation:
Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Child and Family Services, Horizon Centre, Lincoln, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: S. Timimi, Lincolnshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, Child and Family Services, Horizon Centre, Monson Street, Lincoln LN5 7RZ, UK.(Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a fact of culture rather than a fact of nature. For a diagnosis like ADHD to be scientifically useful you need to show that the concept leads to advancement of knowledge around causes. For it to be clinically useful, you need to show that use of the concept leads to improved clinical outcomes. As neither can be convincingly demonstrated, ADHD is unlikely to be either scientifically or clinically useful and the concept is well past its use-by date.

Keywords

ADHDchildrencritical psychiatryoutcomesstimulantstreatmentdiagnosis
Type
Debates
Information
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine , Volume 35 , Special Issue 3: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder , September 2018 , pp. 257 - 259
Copyright
© College of Psychiatrists of Ireland 2018 

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