Phenomenology of ADHD

Abstract

Introduction

Phenomenology is a term borrowed from philosophy which refers to the study of the structures of experience and consciousness. Founded as a school by Edmund Husserl in the early 20th century, it was later expanded and modified by many others, including Martin Heidegger, to include the analysis of existence and hermeneutics.

Objectives and aims

To explain the clinic phenomenology of ADHD based on the historical bibliography regarding this term, making references to the heterogeneity of its phenomenological presentation depending on social context, age and gender.

Methods

To go over the historical considerations of phenomenology and its evolution, as well as its clinical applications, in order to use this knowledge in a clinical context based on the observation of different cases in clinical practice.

Results

We try to apply the phenomenological method as first inaugurated by Karl Jaspers’ General Psychopathology (1913) to analyse the different clinical phenomena that can be observed in patients diagnosed with ADHD.

Conclusions

We think that watching the psychiatric conditions, in this case ADHD, through the phenomenological lens can lead to a better understanding of the heterogeneity of their appearance in the clinical practice.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.