Summary
It seems as though AD(H)D in children has significantly increased in industrial nations in the last few years. This increase is paralleled by rising therapy costs, mainly resulting, in turn, from the prescription of corresponding drugs – a practice that has come to figure most prominently in current statistics. It appears that direct confrontation with our children has taken a back seat; an automatic prescription of drugs tends to become custom. In light of this development, the author calls for a critical assessment of the excessive increase in AD(H)D diagnoses and gives an overview of current findings, psychoanalytic interpretations and therapy options for those children for whom a therapeutic treatment seems reasonable and appropriate.