[Are the concepts of "chronic mania" in German-speaking psychiatry around 1900 early contributions to the disorder of the adult form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?]

Abstract

The adult form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increasingly become a focus of adult psychiatry. Despite long-established diagnostic criteria and specific therapeutic approaches for the disorder, the common misconception that ADHD is a "fad" has persisted. Examining the history of psychiatry can make an educational contribution by showing that the adult form of ADHD is a continuously existing illness phenomenon. The present study examines the discussion of sometimes prominent authors about "chronic mania" in German-speaking psychiatry around 1900. The individual concepts were analyzed for their content and compared with each other and with modern diagnostic manuals for adult ADHD. The aim of this work is to question and discuss whether these "chronic-manic concepts" are part of the conceptual history of adult ADHD and whether a gap in the history of this disorder can be filled with their help. It is concluded that in the early twentieth century neurologists reported and discussed about patients who nowadays would almost certainly receive the diagnosis of ADHD. The psychiatrists had difficulty in classifying this disorder into their nosological schemes but their "chronic-manic concepts" show clear parallels to the current diagnostic criteria for adult ADHD and its symptoms.