دانلود کتاب Hyperactive: The Controversial History of ADHD – بیش فعالی: تاریخ بحث برانگیز ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is one of the most common developmental disorders with an average of 9 per cent of children between the ages of five and seventeen diagnosed per year in the USA. It is also one of the most controversial. Since the 1950s, when hyperactivity in children was first diagnosed, psychiatrists, educators, parents and politicians have debated the causes, treatment and implications of the disorder.Hyperactive: A History of ADHD is the first history of the disorder. Matthew Smith highlights the limitations of regarding ADHD as simply neurological, and contends that hyperactive children are also a product of their social, cultural, political and educational environment. Instead of simply accepting conventional understandings of ADHD, this book addresses the questions central to the emergence of the disorder: Why were children first diagnosed with the disorder? Why did biological explanations become predominant? Why did powerful drugs become the preferred treatment? And why have alternative explanations failed to achieve legitimacy? By thinking through these issues Smith demonstrates how knowledge of the disorders history can be used to empower those affected to make better choices about diagnosis and treatment.As a historian with past experience of working with troubled children and youth, Matthew Smith offers a history that is not only rigorous, but also accessible and highly relevant to those working with and caring for those diagnosed with ADHD. A revealing and clear-headed study of a controversial and emotive subject, this is an essential book for psychologists, teachers, policy makers and, above all, parents.

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Review

Matthew Smith persuasively demonstrates the historical contingency of our ideas about hyperactivity. Well written, complex yet sharply argued, this book is a sorely needed corrective to todays therapeutic common sense and the ocean of pharmaceuticals it sanctions.

(David Herzberg, University at Buffalo (SUNY))

As Matthew Smith demonstrates in this excellent study, there is arguably no more contentious childhood condition than hyperactivity or ADHD. Since the term was first introduced in the decades following the Second World War, hyperactivity has been variably explained in terms of genetic constitution, faulty parenting, an inability to cope with the pace and pressure of modern life, and increased sensitivity to food additives. Hyperactive explores debates about the biological, social and cultural contours of a condition that continues to puzzle doctors, frustrate teachers, and destroy families. It will surely be of value not only to historians of medicine, but also to the parents, teachers, psychiatrists and policy-makers involved in the daily struggle to cope with hyperactive children.

(Mark Jackson, University of Exeter)

Matthew Smith contributes a highly engaging and important historical perspective to the alleged epidemic in hyperactivity. His book is a masterfully written account that challenges us to think critically about how our modern culture has given rise to a sub-population of children with allegedly disruptive behaviours. At the core of this book Smith boldly asks whether such actions deserve to be better treated or simply better understood.

(Erika Dyck, University of Saskatchewan)

Matthew Smith dramatically presents the tangled history of a highly conflicted topic, perceptively examining pertinent biological, psychological, and social theories, professional authority, and pharmaceutical marketing, in the light of the day-to-day realities faced by schools, physicians, parents, and children labeled as hyperactive. For anyone personally or professionally concerned with ADHD, this book demonstrates how critically important it is for us to understand the issue in its historical context.

(Rima D. Apple, University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Hyperactive is a well-researched, well-organized, and well-written history of the development of the highly variable perception, understanding, and treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Smith provides a logically strong argument for considering ADHD as a highly complex disorder arising from a number of contributing variables. . . . The authors critical analysis and global view and interpretationall free of any discernible biasmake his arguments compelling. . . . What makes this work outstanding is its readability and continuity of story line. . . . Essential.

(Choice)

About the Author

Matthew Smith is a lecturer and Wellcome Trust research fellow at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.