Adult ADHD and the Ethics of Medicalization: Between Recognition and Diagnostic Expansion
Main Article Content
Abstract
This paper analyzes the emergence of adult ADHD through a historical and conceptual lens, situating it between clinical recognition and medicalization. It traces key shifts from early moral and organic models to its current classification as a neurodevelopmental disorder in the DSM-5. The paper argues that adult ADHD is a hybrid phenomenon: both a valid clinical recognition of persistent difficulties and a result of diagnostic expansion shaped by sociocultural factors such as neurodiversity and pharmaceuticalization.
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How to Cite
ARANCIBIA COLLAO, Fernando; MARTINEZ-VILLAVICENCIO, Camila.
Adult ADHD and the Ethics of Medicalization: Between Recognition and Diagnostic Expansion.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 14, n. 6, july 2026.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/7604>. Date accessed: 02 july 2026.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.2026.0285.
Keywords
Adult ADHD, Medicalization, Diagnostic expansion, Neurodiversity, DSM
Section
Research Articles
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