Childhoods, diagnosis and mental health: discuorses on the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the Los Lagos region, Chile (2020-2021)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to identify power-knowledge relationships that shape discourses surrounding attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnoses in the region of Los Lagos, Chile. Employing a qualitative methodology based on Foucauldian discourse analysis, three analytical categories were defined: a) meanings, b) configurations, and c) implications of this neuropsychiatric condition. These categories guided eleven in-depth interviews with professionals, family members, and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD, which were conducted between 2020 and 2021. Based on the discourse analysis, the article concludes that: a) Foucauldian biopolitics and Latin American collective health are effective analytical approaches to discourses surrounding ADHD; b) the diagnosis of this disorder is a medicalized phenomenon; and c) diagnosis functions as a classifying tool, a field of controversies, and a strategy that modulates the body and childhood activity.

Keywords

• Collective Health
• Mental Health
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
• Childhoods
• Chile