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Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1999

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Abstract

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Adults with putative attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are increasingly being referred to psychiatric clinics, often following a self-diagnosis, and demanding a prescription for stimulant medication. This has disconcerted many clinicians and started a debate on the appropriateness of this diagnosis in adults (Shaffer, 1994; Lomas, 1995; Diller, 1996) that is reminiscent of the controversies of the childhood diagnosis in previous years (Lancet, 1986). At issue is not only concern about the widespread use of stimulant medication, but also a neurobiological understanding of impulsivity, hyperactivity and antisocial behaviour and the genesis of some psychiatric disorders in adults. How is the validity of this disorder in adults then to be established?

Type
Editorial
Copyright
© 1999 Cambridge University Press