ADHD: Before It Had a Name

For as long as schools have existed, there have been children who struggled to sit still, focus, or follow expectations, long before ADHD became a diagnosis.In this first episode of Before It Had a Name, we trace the history of ADHD from early twentieth-century classrooms to factory floors and wartime psychology. Behaviors once interpreted as moral failure gradually came to be understood in terms of biology, environment, and culture.How did restlessness become a disorder? When did attention differences move from character judgment to clinical diagnosis? And what does that history reveal about how society defines normal behavior?Before It Had a Name explores the origins of modern mental health diagnoses, examining what existed before labels, and how changing language continues to shape how we understand ourselves today.Send us Fan MailBefore It Had a Name explores the history of mental health diagnoses and the stories behind the labels.Follow Jon Watkins on Instagram: @JonWatkinsHost