Hyperkinetic disorder/ADHD and legal aspects

Abstract

Hyperkinetic disorders (HKS – ICD-10) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders (ADHD – DSM-IV), with a prevalence of 2–6%, are among the most common psychiatric diagnoses in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Legal implications arise, on the one hand, from the core symptoms, which in childhood and adolescence are characterized by inattention, overactivity, and impulsivity and in adulthood more by problems of executive functions, focusing attention, emotional modulation, structuring everyday life, and impulse control; on the other hand, they also arise from guideline-concordant treatment with stimulants that are subject to narcotics law. The article focuses on legal aspects related to supervision of midday medication intake at school, travel abroad within and outside the Schengen states, driving motor vehicles, competitive sports, military service, increased risk of delinquency, criteria for maturity of responsibility and criminal responsibility, and, not least, treatment modalities in prisons and forensic psychiatric institutions.