If you're a parent contemplating medication after an ADHD diagnosis,

“Is this a disease, or an explanation?”

1. A Wavering Heart in the Face of a Diagnosis

Every parent raising a child will inevitably ponder, "Could my child have ADHD?" When you observe them appearing distracted, speaking and acting impulsively, and hear that they struggle with concentration, the first emotion a parent feels is anxiety. The moment you visit the hospital for tests and receive a diagnosis from the doctor, that feeling transforms into worry and confusion.

“Is my child no longer ordinary?” “Do I have to give them medication?” “Is this truly necessary?”

However, what we truly need when we accept the term ADHD, even before the diagnostic report, might be to understand the history and philosophy behind its creation.

2. When Did ADHD Become a Disease?

People have struggled with concentration for a long time. In 1798, British physician Alexander Crichton described individuals who were easily distracted and couldn't dwell on a single thought for long. He didn't label this as a disease; he simply regarded it as a temperament, a 'personality trait' of an individual.

In 1902, a pediatrician named George Frederic Still spoke about "children with normal intelligence but diminished moral control," and it was then that the symptoms we now call ADHD began to appear in the language of medicine. However, a decisive change occurred in 1937. American physician Charles Bradley used Benzedrine, an amphetamine, to treat children's headaches, and surprisingly, the result was that the children became calmer and their concentration improved.

In other words, the medication showed its effect first, and subsequently, the condition known as ADHD was 'defined' with the notion that "there must be some disease that this medication treats." This was a significant turning point.

“Was the medication developed first, and then the corresponding disease 'invented' belatedly?”

In fact, the diagnostic term ADHD didn't formally appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) until the 1980s. It was after 1987 that symptoms of Attention Deficit (ADD) and Hyperactivity (H) were combined under the name ADHD.

3. Is It a Disease, or a Matter of Norms?

At this point, we can recall the words of French philosopher Michel Foucault. Foucault argued that medicine isn't merely about curing diseases, but also an exercise of power that labels behavior deviating from societal norms as 'illness.' The time when the diagnosis of ADHD emerged was when children had to sit in school for increasingly longer periods, and in industrial society, time, discipline, concentration, and efficiency became the standards of human value.

If so, ADHD is a neurological disorder, but also a label used to categorize children who do not fit into society's definition of 'normalcy.' This may not be a problem of illness, but rather a gap between societal expectations and a child's temperament.

4. Is Medication a Treatment or a Tuning?

Doctors sometimes recommend drug therapy for ADHD. There are many reports that medications like methylphenidate and atomoxetine help children become calmer and concentrate better. But what we need to consider is this: Does this medication truly aid 'recovery,' or does it induce 'conformity'?

Most medications work by suppressing or modulating the dopamine circuit. In other words, they might not guide the child's brain development itself, but rather serve as a tool to keep them quietly seated in the classroom for the day. Perhaps these are less like drugs that eliminate inflammation and more like painkillers that temporarily make one forget the pain. Even if they don't delay the child's development, they might cause the child to miss opportunities for internal growth.

5. What Matters is Attitude — And That Attitude Changes the Child's Direction

Receiving an ADHD diagnosis doesn't mean there's something "broken" with your child. Rather, it's a signal that "this child functions in a different way than the world."

It is the parent's role to interpret that signal and decide how to respond to it. Medication can, in some cases, be a tool to provide comfort in daily life for the child. But it's not everything. In traditional Korean medicine, children's conditions like this are not merely seen as a "failure of control." Rather, they are understood as a state where the child's physiological rhythms are askew, and the flow of emotions and movements is out of harmony.

Therefore, the traditional Korean medicine approach, rather than simply suppressing behavior, aims to help stabilize the mind and emotions, harmonize the circulation of vital energy (qi) and blood, and restore the overall rhythm of the brain and body to allow the child's developmental flow to proceed naturally from within.

For example, Korean herbal medicine, rather than simply suppressing nervous system excitement, can be used to support the self-healing capacity of nerve tissues or regulate patterns of exhaustion caused by sensory hypersensitivity. Acupuncture treatment can also serve as a stimulus to revive the connection between physical sensations and emotions that the child may not have been aware of.

This may not bring "immediate changes" like medication, but it can be described as a treatment that helps organize the environment so that the natural growth path is not obstructed. And this is precisely the aspect that children with ADHD are most likely to lack.

What to Consider Before the Word 'Normal'

We all have to live in society. We have to go to school, and we have to meet friends. Therefore, self-regulation is sometimes necessary, and a balance that doesn't harm others is also required. However, that balance should not become a way of suppressing the child's potential and autonomy.

Traditional Korean medical treatment doesn't erase a child's innate temperament, but rather works by opening a path for that temperament to flow naturally into life. The name ADHD might be a disease, or it might just be a framework for us to understand. But if parents look at the child themselves, longer and deeper, rather than at the label, that can lead to a more fundamental recovery for the child than medication.

#ADHD #IncheonADHD