Experiences and Explanations of ADHD: An Ethnography of Adults Living with a Diagnosis presents research on the lived experiences of those diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Drawing on in-depth interviews with adults diagnosed with ADHD, the book provides an examination of how the diagnosis is understood, used, and acted upon by the people receiving the diagnosis.
The book delves into the phenomenology of ADHD and uncovers the experiences of a highly debated diagnosis from a first-person perspective. It further considers these experiences within the context of our time and culture and contributes to a discussion of how to understand human diversity and deviance in contemporary society. Studying both societal conditions behind the emergence of ADHD, questions concerning everyday life with ADHD, and interpretations of the diagnosis, the book offers an analysis of the intertwinement of experiences of suffering and diagnostic categories.
This book will appeal to academics, researchers, and postgraduate students in the fields of cultural psychology and medical anthropology, as well as those with an interest in the sociology of diagnoses.
By:
Mikka Nielsen
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
Weight: 453g
ISBN: 9781138307063
ISBN 10: 1138307068
Series: Cultural Dynamics of Social Representation
Pages: 150
Publication Date: 03 September 2019
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Series editor's introduction Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction Aim of the book A diagnosis of our time An anthropological approach to ADHD Clarifying concepts: ADHD as experience and diagnostic category Structure of the book 2. An old disorder or a recent product of medicalization? A story of ADHD as an ever-present disorder The incapacity of necessary attention Children suffer from immortality Minimal brain damage and anti-school behaviour A question of neurology: the rise of medical treatment The DSM era A one-sided story of ADHD A critical explanation of ADHD Medicalization of society Social, political, and cultural factors behind the emergence of ADHD Ritalin on the market Diagnosing adults with ADHD Concluding remarks 3. What is a diagnosis? Diagnostic criteria and clinical guidelines What is diagnosis for? Creating mental illness Putting a name to it Living in a diagnostic culture A neurochemical era A shift in thinking about the human being The self in medical terms Conluding remarks 4. Experiences and implications of getting an ADHD diagnosis The explanatory force of a diagnosis and questions of responsibility Restructuring narratives and self-perceptions Evaluating yourself and considering new questions Restructuring practices and crafting skills Ambivalence towards the diagnosis Taking medication and experimenting with experiences A moral concern: becoming the person you want to be Concluding remarks 5. Explaining and making use of an ADHD diagnosis Dynamics between explanations and experiences Identifying with ADHD Distancing from ADHD Explanations of ADHD and expectations of treatment Having or being ADHD? Concluding remarks 6. ADHD as a temporal phenomenon Studying rhythms and experiences of time The rhythms of the body When the world is at a different pace Social synchronization: trying to keep up but lagging behind Developing time-work strategies Is society catching up on ADHD Concluding remarks 7. Conclusion Becoming someone with ADHD Explanatory models of ADHD ADHD as a relational phenomenon Avenues for future research Implications and recommendations for practice Index
Mikka Nielsen is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Health Research in the Humanities, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.
