“Neglect” in at tention-deficit hy per ac tivity disor der

Abstract

They say he is an attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) child. He can not engage in any thing and can not even play as normal. At home fierce and very loud power struggles are frequent. He has no friends, mostly he is sitting alone before his computer and he has no other interests. He suffers from sleep distur bances, he sleeps only with the light on, he comes often into the bed of the parents, where he makes a fuss. What does this child have? Is he only ill-bred? Is he anxious – at school or at home? Does he suffer from separation? Or is it a matter of a genetic development problem? The strange phenomenon of “neglect” is traced here in connection with the diagnosis of an ADHD. Lopsided considerations are implicitly connected with this disorder and entice to neglect the developmental disorder in its psychic cognitive and somatic complexity. In a critical review of biomedical and psychodynamical models, it becomes apparent that newer concepts and results in research are, beside further illuminating this disorder, also helpful for the therapy of these children. Finally, a detailed discussion of the specificities of a psychodynamic developmental therapy follows.