How Do We Understand Children’s Restlessness? A Critique of the Biopsychosocial Model and ADHD as the Dominating Perspective in Current Understanding and Treatment

Abstract

How is children’s restlessness understood and handled by surrounding adults? Two approaches are outlined in this article: one is the biomedical and later the biopsychosocial model, the other is a tradition that can be traced back to Foucault’s concept of historical ontology. The biopsychosocial model and ADHD is currently the dominating perspective when it comes to describing, understanding and treating restlessness in children. In this tradition, a focus on pathology and biology places the root of the problem within the child and positions the surrounding adults as neutral observers and helpers. By contrast, historical ontology opens up to questions about the neutrality and validity of a biopsychosocial approach by pointing to our active role as subjects in creating ideas of truth about children, in judging their behaviour and in “helping” them. Rather than claiming that one approach is better than the other, it can be useful to regard the two traditions as providing different levels of analysis and be aware of the possibilities and limitations pertaining to these.