Rebranding ADHD

tl;dr

After being diagnosed with ADHD in 2023, I began a personal project to explore and better understand this complex condition.

Given the current surge of interest in neurodiversity, this side project has moved and morphed much faster than I could have anticipated.

That’s why I decided to build a dedicated space to accomodate all the new ideas, networks and research I’ve been uncovering along the way.

Learn more at Heumans.com

My first step in learning about other people’s experiences was to build this survey.

Early Research Notes

A very rough timeline of ADHD symptoms, diagnosis and perception in society

ADHD's history can be traced back to the 19th century when physicians began to recognize symptoms resembling those of the disorder. However, it was not formally categorized as a medical condition until much later.
In the early 20th Century, descriptions of symptoms resembling ADHD started to appear in medical literature. However, these were often under different names and conceptualisations.
For example, in 1902, British paediatrician Sir George Still described a group of children as having a deficit in controlling their impulses, which he termed “defect of moral control”
The formal recognition of ADHD began to take shape in the 1960s and 1970s with the introduction of diagnostic criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).
The DSM-II, published in 1968, included a diagnosis known as "Hyperkinetic Reaction of Childhood," which laid some groundwork for what would later become ADHD.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III), published in 1980, introduced the term "Attention Deficit Disorder" (ADD) with or without hyperactivity.
This marked a significant shift towards recognising the inattentive symptoms of the disorder as distinct from hyperactivity.
The DSM-IV, published in 1994, merged the diagnoses of ADD and ADHD into a single disorder: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
This reflected the understanding that attention deficits and hyperactivity often coexist in individuals with the condition.
Throughout the late 20th and early 21st centuries, awareness of ADHD increased significantly. This led to more accurate diagnosis and treatment, including behavioral interventions, medication, and educational accommodations.
Subsequent revisions of the DSM, including DSM-IV-TR (Text Revision) and DSM-5, have further refined the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, distinguishing between predominantly inattentive presentation, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive presentation, and combined presentation.
Research into the underlying causes, neurobiology, and treatment of ADHD continues to advance. This includes studies on genetic factors, brain imaging, and the development of new therapeutic approaches.