When do you think ADHD was described for the first time?
a) 1990 b) 1844
c) 2005 d) 1902
The correct response is letter “b”
There is the belief that ADHD was probably described for the first time in 1902. Yet, it was really first described by the psychiatrist Heinrich Hoffman in 1844 when he writes and illustrates the story of Fidgety Phil. This story is part of a book of stories he gave to his three year old son Philipp for Christmas. The story that we see in the above picture series speaks of the families difficulties’s because of the hyperactive behavior of their son. At the beginning of dinner his father tells Philipp that they expect that he maintains good behavior, yet Philipp did not hear what his father said (inattention). The story then goes on to explain that the child moves around, laughs, and rocks back and forth on the chair (hyperactivity symptoms) until he fell down taking with him the mantelpiece and dinner. The fact that the parents got so upset indicated that Philipp’s behavior caused conflicts at home and affected his social functioning. We are faced here with the first description of ADHD symptoms. In 1902, Sir George Still gives the first scientific presentations of the disorder at the Royal College of Physicians in London.