Jose Martinez-Badía, Facultad de Historia, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
World J Psychiatry. 2015 Dec 22;5(4):379-86. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v5.i4.379.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a complex, heterogeneous and multifactorial neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. Although the first clinical description of a constellation of symptoms highly resembling to what currently could be diagnosed as ADHD is generally attributed to George F Still in 1902, there are scattered but significant published historical medical, scientific and non-scientific reports, much prior to Still's lectures, of what is currently conceptualized as ADHD. The present report aimed at exploring the early history of ADHD, prior to the 20(th) century in the medical literature and in other historical sources, to provide clinicians, researchers and other professionals with a better understanding of the roots and current conceptualization of this disorder. It is possible to find clues and highly suggestive descriptions of individuals presenting symptoms resembling what is currently defined as ADHD in the literature, in paintings or in the Bible. However, the earliest medical reports of individuals with abnormal degrees of inattention, distractibility and overactivity date from the last quarter of the 18(th) century, included in two of the first textbooks specifically on the subject of mental diseases, published by the German Melchior Adam Weikard and the Scottish Sir Alexander Crichton. During the 19(th) century some eminent physicians from Germany, France or Great Britain, such as Charles West, Thomas C Albutt, Thomas S Clouston, William W, Ireland, John Haslam, Heinrich Neumann, or Désiré-Magloire Bourneville, among others provided clinical depictions of patients that most likely presently would be diagnosed as having ADHD. Whilst some of the children described by Still and his predecessors may have suffered from a variety of neurological and psychiatric disorders, many of these patients showed clear symptoms of ADHD and may present with comorbid disorders, as it is commonly the case in clinical practice.
注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是一种复杂的、异质的和多因素的神经发育障碍，其特征是持续存在注意力不集中、多动和冲动等症状。尽管目前被诊断为 ADHD 的一系列症状的首次临床描述通常归因于 1902 年的 George F Still，但在此之前，仍有大量分散但重要的历史医学、科学和非科学文献报道了目前被认为是 ADHD 的内容。本报告旨在探索 ADHD 的早期历史，即在 20 世纪之前的医学文献和其他历史资料中，为临床医生、研究人员和其他专业人员提供更好地理解这种疾病的根源和当前概念。在文献、绘画或圣经中，有可能找到类似当前定义的 ADHD 的症状的个体的线索和高度提示性描述。然而，最早关于注意力不集中、注意力分散和过度活跃程度异常的个体的医学报告可以追溯到 18 世纪最后一个季度，这些报告包含在德国 Melchior Adam Weikard 和苏格兰的 Sir Alexander Crichton 撰写的两本专门论述精神疾病主题的首批教科书之一。在 19 世纪，一些来自德国、法国或英国的杰出医生，如 Charles West、Thomas C Albutt、Thomas S Clouston、William W Ireland、John Haslam、Heinrich Neumann 或 Désiré-Magloire Bourneville 等，提供了对最有可能目前被诊断为 ADHD 的患者的临床描述。虽然 Still 和他的前辈描述的一些孩子可能患有各种神经和精神障碍，但许多这些患者表现出明显的 ADHD 症状，可能同时患有共病障碍，这在临床实践中很常见。
