Readers Write: April 18

Rosemond doesn’t understand ADHD

Once again John Rosemond writes a contemptuous column (“The ADHD debate continues,” Living, April 7) demeaning those of us who actually became doctoral level psychologists and have studied the history of psychology. Rosemond is actually what is called a psychological associate, meaning he obtained a Master’s degree in psychology and is only allowed to practice under the supervision of a doctoral psychologist … the profession that he demeans as inventing ADHD. If he were to actually study the field, this problem was first noticed in 1798 by Sir Alexander Crichton, a Scottish physician who described the problem as a difficulty in paying attention, seemingly from birth, and that seemed to improve as a child matured into adulthood. Over the 19th century and into the early 20th century, a number of physicians and pediatricians have also described and noticed patterns that we now identify as ADHD but at that time were known by other names: hyperkinetic disease, minimal brain damage or minimal brain dysfunction. In 1937, a neurologist discovered that stimulant medications, given to help children with headache also seemed to make remarkable improvements in the behavior of these children who were hyperkinetic. Is ADHD overdiagnosed and sometimes not treated appropriately? Yes, it is. But it has existed and has been described for well over 200 years by child specialists.

MARY GRESHAM, ATLANTA