Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized?(Marcus Cornelius Fronto)
Marcus Cornelius Fronto, born in Cirta (modern Constantine, Algeria) around 100 CE, was one of the most celebrated rhetoricians of the Roman Empire. Rising from provincial Numidia, Fronto became the tutor of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the two men who would go on to rule as co-emperors, and a close advisor to Antoninus Pius, their adoptive father (Haines, 1919/2001). He was appointed consul and became one of the most respected figures at the imperial court. His surviving Correspondence — over 200 letters between him, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus — shows the intimacy of their relationship: Fronto did not merely teach them rhetoric but counseled them on governance, morality, and personal struggles. His influence helped shape the moral and intellectual outlook of Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations remain one of the foundational works of world philosophy.
Fronto’s rhetorical style was admired by contemporaries for its power, vividness, and revival of archaic Latin; he was considered second only to Cicero in oratory by some Roman critics (Champlin, 1980). While much of his work has been lost, what survives demonstrates a mastery of language that Roman elites revered. It is significant that two emperors of Rome, as well as their father, Antoninus Pius, placed themselves under the guidance of a man from Algeria. Later European scholars, particularly in the 19th century during the height of French and German colonialism, tried to diminish him, accusing him of “poor Latin” or dismissing his achievements. But the historical record contradicts this bias: Fronto was praised unreservedly by his contemporaries and entrusted with the intellectual formation of emperors.
This is the reality: an Algerian rhetorician shaped the voice of the Roman Empire’s rulers, including one of history’s most revered philosopher-emperors. To call this influence merely “Roman” or “European” is to miss its origin. The eloquence of Marcus Aurelius’ reign, the literary beauty admired in his Meditations, and the rhetorical culture of the Antonine dynasty were Algerianized through Fronto.
References
Champlin, E. (1980). Fronto and Antonine Rome. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fronto, M. C. (2001). Correspondence, Vols. I–II (C. R. Haines, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1919).
Van den Hout, M. P. J. (1999). A Commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto. Leiden: Brill.
Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized? (Aurelius Augustinus)
Aurelius Augustinus, known to history as St. Augustine of Hippo, was born in Tagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria) in 354 CE and became bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria). He is arguably the most influential intellectual produced by Roman North Africa and one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Christianity and Western philosophy. His works are immense in scope and number: Confessions, The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, On the Trinity, over 100 treatises, and more than 200 letters and sermons (Brown, 2000). He is credited with shaping doctrines of grace, original sin, and just war, and he advanced the principle that church and state are distinct spheres. Writing in The City of God XIX.17, he noted that the earthly and heavenly cities must be separated in purpose, even as they coexist in history. For this reason, he is widely regarded as the first philosopher to articulate the separation of church and state (Markus, 1970).
Augustine’s maxim — “An unjust law is no law at all” (On Free Choice of the Will I.5) — has echoed across centuries, cited by Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail as a foundation for civil disobedience against racial injustice. His influence extended into the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, drew much of Reformation theology from Augustine’s writings on grace and faith. Within Catholic tradition, Augustine is often considered the most prolific of the Church Fathers and second only to St. Peter in authority. His intellectual reach extended far beyond theology, shaping medieval philosophy, Renaissance humanism, and modern political thought. This is the reality: the intellectual edifice of what is called “the West” rests as much on the bishop of Hippo as on any Roman emperor. To call this merely “Roman” or “European” is to obscure the truth. Augustine was Algerian, and his mind and pen decisively Algerianized the West.
References
Augustine. (1991). The Confessions (H. Chadwick, Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Augustine. (1993). On Free Choice of the Will (T. Williams, Trans.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Augustine. (1998). The City of God (R. W. Dyson, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, P. (2000). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1967).
Markus, R. A. (1970). Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized? (Quintus Lollius Urbicus)
Quintus Lollius Urbicus, born near Tiddis close to Cirta (modern Constantine, Algeria), stands as one of the most striking examples of how deeply Algerians shaped Rome and, by extension, what is now called “the West.” Appointed consul around 135 or 136 CE, he first governed Germania Inferior before being dispatched to Britannia by Emperor Antoninus Pius around 139–142 CE (Birley, 2005; Salway, 2001). In Britain, Urbicus led Roman legions against northern tribes, reoccupying Lowland Scotland, refurbishing forts such as Corbridge, and overseeing the construction of the Antonine Wall, a massive frontier system stretching from the Forth to the Clyde rivers (Jones, 1992). His campaigns targeted powerful confederations, including the Votadini, Selgovae, Damnonii, and Novantae, and were commemorated by coins issued in 142 CE celebrating Roman victories. After these achievements on the northern frontier, Urbicus returned to Rome, where he was appointed Praefectus Urbi (Prefect of Rome) around 146 CE, one of the empire’s highest offices, responsible for the administration, justice, and security of the imperial capital itself (Birley, 2005). Urbicus’ career trajectory — from provincial Numidia to consul, governor of Germany and Britain, conqueror of northern tribes, builder of Rome’s north wall, and finally prefect of the capital — is extraordinary. It demonstrates not only Rome’s system of advancement by merit but also how an Algerian could rise to the very pinnacle of both military and civic leadership. His career belongs alongside those of Apuleius, Fronto, Augustine, Charisius, and Martianus Capella as evidence that the pillars of philosophy, grammar, theology, rhetoric, literature, and even imperial defense were profoundly influenced by Algeria. To call this simply “Roman” is to erase what it truly was: Algerian at its core, Algerian in its substance, Algerian in its brilliance. The so-called West is not something Algeria imitates; rather, the West is Algerianized.
References
Birley, A. R. (2005). The Roman Government of Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brown, P. (2000). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1967).
Fronto, M. C. (2001). Correspondence, Vols. I–II (C. R. Haines, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1919).
Jones, B. W. (1992). Quintus Lollius Urbicus and the Antonine Wall. Britannia, 23, 29–39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martianus Capella. (1971). The Marriage of Philology and Mercury (W. H. Stahl, R. Johnson, & E. L. Burge, Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Salway, P. (2001). Roman Britain (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Walsh, P. G. (2004). The Roman Novel: The “Satyricon” of Petronius and the “Metamorphoses” of Apuleius. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Apuleius. (1994). Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass) (J. Arthur Hanson, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Apuleius. (1976). Apologia and Florida (H. E. Butler, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Baratin, M., & Colombat, B. (2008). La tradition grammaticale de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance. Paris: CNRS Éditions.
La Fontaine, J. de. (1962). Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon. Paris: Garnier-Flammarion. (Original work published 1669).
Dyslexia is classified in the DSM-5 as a Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in reading, under the broader category of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). In educational and legal contexts, such as U.S. special education law, dyslexia is also recognized as a learning disability because it significantly affects reading, spelling, and writing skills. It primarily impacts accurate and fluent word recognition, decoding, and spelling abilities.
The core traits of dyslexia include word-level difficulties such as slow, inaccurate, or effortful reading; decoding problems, where an individual has trouble sounding out words or linking letters to sounds due to phonological deficits; spelling challenges with persistent or inconsistent errors; reading fluency issues, where reading is slow and labored despite adequate instruction and intelligence; and avoidance behaviors, where students may show reluctance to read, or experience frustration or anxiety when faced with text.
Secondary and associated traits include oral language difficulties such as trouble with rhyming, retrieving words quickly, or repeating verbal information. Dyslexic individuals may also experience working memory issues, where they have difficulty holding multiple pieces of verbal or written information in mind. Reduced reading comprehension is also common, as individuals struggle to understand passages because so much effort is devoted to decoding individual words.
Dyslexia can sometimes be confused with, or overlap with, other conditions because they share similar academic or attentional difficulties. ADHD may present with inattention, distractibility, and impulsivity that lead to poor reading performance, though the underlying cause differs (executive function vs. phonological processing). Language disorders can create broader issues with vocabulary, grammar, and expressive or receptive language, which may overlap with dyslexia. Low literacy exposure, where a child has limited access to books, reading instruction, or supportive environments, can mimic dyslexic traits. Vision problems, if uncorrected, may appear as reading struggles. Anxiety, including test anxiety or reading-specific anxiety, can also interfere with fluency and comprehension, giving the appearance of dyslexia when the underlying problem is different.
These traits matter because they determine how interventions are targeted. A child with dyslexia needs explicit phonics instruction and structured literacy programs. A child with ADHD but no dyslexia may need support with attention and executive function rather than phonological training. A child with both ADHD and dyslexia will need a dual approach—structured literacy for decoding issues and attention or behavioral supports for focus and executive functioning.
In a nutshell, dyslexia shows up as reading that requires unusual effort and concentration, even when intelligence, vision, and educational opportunity are normal. Readers with dyslexia often describe the experience as non-automatic and sometimes like trying to process text in a less direct way. The research language for this is inefficient decoding, where instead of automatic word recognition, each word requires effortful analysis. The idea of two-dimensional processing, as you phrased it, can work as a metaphor, because dyslexic readers often rely on compensatory strategies—using context, memorization, or visual cues—instead of the direct, fast, one-directional route fluent readers use in the occipito-temporal “visual word form” area. Normal readers eventually use a unidirectional, streamlined pathway for fluent reading, while dyslexic readers may rely more on alternative or effortful routes (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. Snowling, M. J. (2019). Dyslexia: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press. Peterson, R. L., & Pennington, B. F. (2015). Developmental dyslexia. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 11, 283–307. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032814-112842 Shaywitz, S. (2020). Overcoming dyslexia (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf. Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2008). Paying attention to reading: The neurobiology of reading and dyslexia. Development and Psychopathology, 20(4), 1329–1349. doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000631
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a lifelong servant of the Florentine Republic, employed as Second Chancellor from 1498 until the Medici coup of 1512. He was no aristocrat but a civil servant and diplomat, deeply invested in republican government. When the Medici returned to power, he was dismissed, accused of conspiracy, imprisoned, and tortured with the strappado. After his release, politically ruined, he retired to his farm in exile. It was in this context that he composed The Prince (1513), dedicating it to Lorenzo de’ Medici. On the surface, The Prince reads as a handbook for princely power, filled with advice that is brazenly immoral. Machiavelli recommends destroying conquered institutions (Ch. 3), praises founders who use violence (Ch. 6), glorifies Cesare Borgia’s ruthless cunning (Ch. 7–8), insists that rulers should not aim at goodness but only appear good (Ch. 15), and argues it is safer to be feared than loved (Ch. 17). In Ch. 18, he famously declares: “A wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when it is against his interest.” Taken literally, this is the textbook of tyranny — so much so that “Machiavellian” entered the language as shorthand for cunning and cruelty.
Yet many scholars have argued that this literalist reading misses the point. Rousseau (1762/2012) wrote: “While pretending to teach kings, Machiavelli taught the people the true nature of tyranny” (The Social Contract, IV.7). Nietzsche, in Beyond Good and Evil, noted that Machiavelli revealed “how a prince must act… and with what moral pretenses he may cloak himself, in order to appear virtuous while he is not” (§197). In The Will to Power, Nietzsche sharpened the claim: “Machiavelli does not corrupt, he only unmasks the corrupt.” These interpretations view The Prince not as advice but as irony —a work that exposes the logic of tyranny by exaggerating it. The irony is especially sharp in Machiavelli’s choice of Cesare Borgia as his model “prince.” Borgia was bold and ruthless, but his power collapsed after the death of his father, Pope Alexander VI, in 1503. By 1507, Borgia was dead, at the age of only 31. To praise him as an ideal is puzzling if Machiavelli’s aim was serious instruction. It makes more sense if Borgia functions as a warning: a failed tyrant, a figure whose brutality illustrates the fragility of power without legitimacy.
Despite these subtler readings, the literalist interpretation dominated public reception. Mussolini, in a 1924 preface to The Prince, celebrated Machiavelli as a realist: “The truth is that Machiavelli was a realist who saw things as they really are, not as they ought to be.” Similarly, Hitler and other fascists treated the book as a manual for strategy and domination. This misreading was facilitated by the Medici themselves: The Prince appeared flattering, and they had no reason to censor a text that portrayed fear and cruelty as practical tools of rule. The more profound paradox, then, is that a republican, tortured by the Medici, dedicated to them a book that seems to glorify tyranny. To take this at face value is to accept that Machiavelli abandoned his lifelong republicanism to beg for favor. Yet the text’s extremity suggests another possibility: The Prince is an act of cunning revenge, holding up a mirror to tyranny while ensuring its survival under the guise of flattery. By illustrating power without ethics in its most extreme form, Machiavelli warned humanity about the true nature of tyranny. The tragedy is that most readers — both familiar and scholarly — missed the irony, treating the text as realism rather than an exposure. If anything, the ruthless methods described should be called Medician, not Machiavellian.
References
Machiavelli, N. (1513/1998). The Prince (Q. Skinner & R. Price, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Rousseau, J.-J. (1762/2012). The Social Contract (H. C. Mansfield & D. Winch, Eds.). University of Chicago Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1886/1998). Beyond Good and Evil (R.-P. Horstmann & J. Norman, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1901/1967). The Will to Power (W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Vintage.
Mussolini, B. (1924). Preface to Il Principe (Italian edition).
Ridolfi, R. (1963). The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli. University of Chicago Press.
Najemy, J. M. (2010). A History of Florence, 1200–1575. Wiley-Blackwell.
Overdiagnosis tends to arise when interpretive criteria are applied under time pressure with limited informants, creating room for bias and context effects. Studies show clinicians sometimes diagnose ADHD even when full DSM criteria aren’t met, with gender bias increasing the likelihood of diagnosing boys with identical vignettes (Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider, 2012). Large population work also points to the relative-age effect: the youngest children in a classroom are more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, suggesting developmental immaturity is misread as pathology (Merten, Cwik, Margraf, & Schneider, 2017). In parallel, girls and women are relatively underdiagnosed, partly because their presentations are less disruptive and more inattentive/internalizing (Adler, Shaw, Sitt, Maya, & Morrill, 2017).
Adolescent development: traits without disorder
Multiple neurodevelopmental reviews show that adolescence normally features weaker executive control, higher impulsivity, and emotional lability because prefrontal systems mature into the mid-20s (Casey, Jones, & Hare, 2008; Sowell, Thompson, Holmes, Jernigan, & Toga, 2003; Luna, Padmanabhan, & O’Hearn, 2010). These developmentally typical traits can look like ADHD in teens, increasing the risk that age-expected behavior is over-pathologized.
Symptom overlap with other conditions (the diagnostic “look-alikes”) • Trauma / PTSD: Hyperarousal, distractibility, irritability, and regulation problems mimic ADHD; trauma can be misclassified as ADHD without careful history (Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway, 2011). • Depression & Anxiety: Inattention, restlessness, and executive-function complaints are common in mood and anxiety disorders, increasing non-specificity of ADHD criteria (Adler et al., 2017). • Autism (ASD): Social-communication differences and executive-function deficits produce symptom overlap; comorbidity and misattribution are common (Merten et al., 2017, overview; see also clinical syntheses cited therein). • Sleep disorders / chronic sleep loss: Insufficient or poor-quality sleep can present with inattention, hyperactivity, and behavioral dysregulation, masquerading as ADHD in children and adults (summarized in Merten et al., 2017).
These overlaps explain why critics emphasize medicalization and construct boundaries rather than denying traits per se (Conrad & Bergey, 2014). The traits are real; the challenge is that they are non-specific and context-dependent, so thresholding them into a single label is inherently fallible.
Bottom line for practice
Across studies, the most defensible stance is: (a) acknowledge real traits and impairment, (b) recognize that adolescent development and overlapping conditions can produce the same behavioral picture, and (c) reduce error by using multi-informant, longitudinal, multi-disciplinary assessment and second opinions, especially because there are no diagnostic biomarkers (APA, 2013; Conrad & Bergey, 2014; Bruchmüller et al., 2012; Merten et al., 2017).
References
Adler, L. A., Shaw, D. M., Sitt, D. J., Maya, E., & Morrill, M. I. (2017). Issues in the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD by primary care physicians. Primary Psychiatry, 14(5), 57–63. American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing. Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582 Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., & Hare, T. A. (2008). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 111–126. doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.010 Conrad, P., & Bergey, M. (2014). The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 122, 31–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.019 Luna, B., Padmanabhan, A., & O’Hearn, K. (2010). What has fMRI told us about the development of cognitive control through adolescence? Brain and Cognition, 72(1), 101–113. doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.08.005 Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5 Sowell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., Holmes, C. J., Jernigan, T. L., & Toga, A. W. (2003). In vivo evidence for post-adolescent brain maturation in frontal and striatal regions. Nature Neuroscience, 2(10), 859–861. doi.org/10.1038/13154 Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
1. Peter Conrad • One of the most influential sociologists on the medicalization of behavior. • Key works: • Conrad, P. (1975). The discovery of hyperkinesis: Notes on the medicalization of deviant behavior. Social Problems, 23(1), 12–21. • Conrad, P., & Bergey, M. (2014). The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 122, 31–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.019
2. Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider • Psychological researchers who empirically tested ADHD diagnostic practices. • Showed that clinicians often diagnose ADHD even when criteria are not fully met. • Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582
3. E. C. Merten and colleagues • Examined overdiagnosis of ADHD in children and adolescents across developed countries. • Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5
4. Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway • Raised concern about diagnostic confusion between trauma and ADHD. • Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
5. Joel Nigg • Psychologist and researcher who emphasizes ADHD’s complexity and critiques oversimplified explanations. • Nigg, J. T. (2013). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and adverse health outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(2), 215–228. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.11.005
6. Sami Timimi • UK child psychiatrist critical of ADHD as a diagnostic label, arguing it reflects cultural norms as much as medical reality. • Timimi, S., Taylor, E., & McCabe, R. (2004). Rethinking ADHD: From brain to culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
ADHD is widely acknowledged as involving real and observable traits such as distractibility, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and difficulties with emotional regulation (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). If these traits are persistent, chronic, and impair everyday functioning, then they must be addressed. The question is not whether the traits exist, but how they are categorized: is this best understood as a condition, or as a cluster of behaviors that has been overapplied in diagnosis?
Research shows ADHD is both overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed. Certain populations—such as boys in younger grade cohorts—are more likely to be diagnosed even when age-related immaturity may explain the behaviors (Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider, 2012; Merten et al., 2017). At the same time, ADHD is underdiagnosed in women, girls, and minority groups whose symptoms may not match the “classic” hyperactive stereotype (Adler et al., 2017). This dual problem highlights the fuzziness of the construct.
There are no definitive biological markers for ADHD. Conditions like this are defined by human criteria, built by consensus around clusters of traits and thresholds. Critics are not denying the traits themselves but questioning how those traits are applied in diagnosis, sometimes leading to over-pathologization or misattribution of trauma, stress, or normative development (Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway, 2011; Timimi, Taylor, & McCabe, 2004).
The reality is that traits remain whether or not they are labeled. Addressing them is essential when they impair functioning, regardless of whether the diagnosis is applied. The controversy centers less on the existence of ADHD as a construct and more on its application in practice. For this reason, second or even third opinions are strongly advised, given the absence of biological markers and the interpretive nature of diagnosis.
References
Adler, L. A., Shaw, D. M., Sitt, D. J., Maya, E., & Morrill, M. I. (2017). Issues in the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD by primary care physicians. Primary Psychiatry, 14(5), 57–63.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582
Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5
Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
Timimi, S., Taylor, E., & McCabe, R. (2004). Rethinking ADHD: From brain to culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
Farida Bouattoura
Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized?(Marcus Cornelius Fronto)
Marcus Cornelius Fronto, born in Cirta (modern Constantine, Algeria) around 100 CE, was one of the most celebrated rhetoricians of the Roman Empire. Rising from provincial Numidia, Fronto became the tutor of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, the two men who would go on to rule as co-emperors, and a close advisor to Antoninus Pius, their adoptive father (Haines, 1919/2001). He was appointed consul and became one of the most respected figures at the imperial court. His surviving Correspondence — over 200 letters between him, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus — shows the intimacy of their relationship: Fronto did not merely teach them rhetoric but counseled them on governance, morality, and personal struggles. His influence helped shape the moral and intellectual outlook of Marcus Aurelius, whose Meditations remain one of the foundational works of world philosophy.
Fronto’s rhetorical style was admired by contemporaries for its power, vividness, and revival of archaic Latin; he was considered second only to Cicero in oratory by some Roman critics (Champlin, 1980). While much of his work has been lost, what survives demonstrates a mastery of language that Roman elites revered. It is significant that two emperors of Rome, as well as their father, Antoninus Pius, placed themselves under the guidance of a man from Algeria. Later European scholars, particularly in the 19th century during the height of French and German colonialism, tried to diminish him, accusing him of “poor Latin” or dismissing his achievements. But the historical record contradicts this bias: Fronto was praised unreservedly by his contemporaries and entrusted with the intellectual formation of emperors.
This is the reality: an Algerian rhetorician shaped the voice of the Roman Empire’s rulers, including one of history’s most revered philosopher-emperors. To call this influence merely “Roman” or “European” is to miss its origin. The eloquence of Marcus Aurelius’ reign, the literary beauty admired in his Meditations, and the rhetorical culture of the Antonine dynasty were Algerianized through Fronto.
References
Champlin, E. (1980). Fronto and Antonine Rome. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Fronto, M. C. (2001). Correspondence, Vols. I–II (C. R. Haines, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1919).
Van den Hout, M. P. J. (1999). A Commentary on the Letters of M. Cornelius Fronto. Leiden: Brill.
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Farida Bouattoura
Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized? (Aurelius Augustinus)
Aurelius Augustinus, known to history as St. Augustine of Hippo, was born in Tagaste (modern Souk Ahras, Algeria) in 354 CE and became bishop of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Algeria). He is arguably the most influential intellectual produced by Roman North Africa and one of the greatest thinkers in the history of Christianity and Western philosophy. His works are immense in scope and number: Confessions, The City of God, On Christian Doctrine, On the Trinity, over 100 treatises, and more than 200 letters and sermons (Brown, 2000). He is credited with shaping doctrines of grace, original sin, and just war, and he advanced the principle that church and state are distinct spheres. Writing in The City of God XIX.17, he noted that the earthly and heavenly cities must be separated in purpose, even as they coexist in history. For this reason, he is widely regarded as the first philosopher to articulate the separation of church and state (Markus, 1970).
Augustine’s maxim — “An unjust law is no law at all” (On Free Choice of the Will I.5) — has echoed across centuries, cited by Martin Luther King Jr. in his Letter from Birmingham Jail as a foundation for civil disobedience against racial injustice. His influence extended into the Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther, an Augustinian monk, drew much of Reformation theology from Augustine’s writings on grace and faith. Within Catholic tradition, Augustine is often considered the most prolific of the Church Fathers and second only to St. Peter in authority. His intellectual reach extended far beyond theology, shaping medieval philosophy, Renaissance humanism, and modern political thought. This is the reality: the intellectual edifice of what is called “the West” rests as much on the bishop of Hippo as on any Roman emperor. To call this merely “Roman” or “European” is to obscure the truth. Augustine was Algerian, and his mind and pen decisively Algerianized the West.
References
Augustine. (1991). The Confessions (H. Chadwick, Trans.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Augustine. (1993). On Free Choice of the Will (T. Williams, Trans.). Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.
Augustine. (1998). The City of God (R. W. Dyson, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brown, P. (2000). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1967).
Markus, R. A. (1970). Saeculum: History and Society in the Theology of St Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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Farida Bouattoura
Decolonizing History: How the West is Algerianized? (Quintus Lollius Urbicus)
Quintus Lollius Urbicus, born near Tiddis close to Cirta (modern Constantine, Algeria), stands as one of the most striking examples of how deeply Algerians shaped Rome and, by extension, what is now called “the West.” Appointed consul around 135 or 136 CE, he first governed Germania Inferior before being dispatched to Britannia by Emperor Antoninus Pius around 139–142 CE (Birley, 2005; Salway, 2001). In Britain, Urbicus led Roman legions against northern tribes, reoccupying Lowland Scotland, refurbishing forts such as Corbridge, and overseeing the construction of the Antonine Wall, a massive frontier system stretching from the Forth to the Clyde rivers (Jones, 1992). His campaigns targeted powerful confederations, including the Votadini, Selgovae, Damnonii, and Novantae, and were commemorated by coins issued in 142 CE celebrating Roman victories. After these achievements on the northern frontier, Urbicus returned to Rome, where he was appointed Praefectus Urbi (Prefect of Rome) around 146 CE, one of the empire’s highest offices, responsible for the administration, justice, and security of the imperial capital itself (Birley, 2005). Urbicus’ career trajectory — from provincial Numidia to consul, governor of Germany and Britain, conqueror of northern tribes, builder of Rome’s north wall, and finally prefect of the capital — is extraordinary. It demonstrates not only Rome’s system of advancement by merit but also how an Algerian could rise to the very pinnacle of both military and civic leadership. His career belongs alongside those of Apuleius, Fronto, Augustine, Charisius, and Martianus Capella as evidence that the pillars of philosophy, grammar, theology, rhetoric, literature, and even imperial defense were profoundly influenced by Algeria. To call this simply “Roman” is to erase what it truly was: Algerian at its core, Algerian in its substance, Algerian in its brilliance. The so-called West is not something Algeria imitates; rather, the West is Algerianized.
References
Birley, A. R. (2005). The Roman Government of Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Brown, P. (2000). Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (New ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1967).
Fronto, M. C. (2001). Correspondence, Vols. I–II (C. R. Haines, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1919).
Jones, B. W. (1992). Quintus Lollius Urbicus and the Antonine Wall. Britannia, 23, 29–39. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Martianus Capella. (1971). The Marriage of Philology and Mercury (W. H. Stahl, R. Johnson, & E. L. Burge, Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Salway, P. (2001). Roman Britain (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Walsh, P. G. (2004). The Roman Novel: The “Satyricon” of Petronius and the “Metamorphoses” of Apuleius. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Apuleius. (1994). Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass) (J. Arthur Hanson, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Apuleius. (1976). Apologia and Florida (H. E. Butler, Trans.). Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Baratin, M., & Colombat, B. (2008). La tradition grammaticale de l’Antiquité à la Renaissance. Paris: CNRS Éditions.
La Fontaine, J. de. (1962). Les Amours de Psyché et de Cupidon. Paris: Garnier-Flammarion. (Original work published 1669).
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Farida Bouattoura
Dyslexia?
Dyslexia is classified in the DSM-5 as a Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in reading, under the broader category of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). In educational and legal contexts, such as U.S. special education law, dyslexia is also recognized as a learning disability because it significantly affects reading, spelling, and writing skills. It primarily impacts accurate and fluent word recognition, decoding, and spelling abilities.
The core traits of dyslexia include word-level difficulties such as slow, inaccurate, or effortful reading; decoding problems, where an individual has trouble sounding out words or linking letters to sounds due to phonological deficits; spelling challenges with persistent or inconsistent errors; reading fluency issues, where reading is slow and labored despite adequate instruction and intelligence; and avoidance behaviors, where students may show reluctance to read, or experience frustration or anxiety when faced with text.
Secondary and associated traits include oral language difficulties such as trouble with rhyming, retrieving words quickly, or repeating verbal information. Dyslexic individuals may also experience working memory issues, where they have difficulty holding multiple pieces of verbal or written information in mind. Reduced reading comprehension is also common, as individuals struggle to understand passages because so much effort is devoted to decoding individual words.
Dyslexia can sometimes be confused with, or overlap with, other conditions because they share similar academic or attentional difficulties. ADHD may present with inattention, distractibility, and impulsivity that lead to poor reading performance, though the underlying cause differs (executive function vs. phonological processing). Language disorders can create broader issues with vocabulary, grammar, and expressive or receptive language, which may overlap with dyslexia. Low literacy exposure, where a child has limited access to books, reading instruction, or supportive environments, can mimic dyslexic traits. Vision problems, if uncorrected, may appear as reading struggles. Anxiety, including test anxiety or reading-specific anxiety, can also interfere with fluency and comprehension, giving the appearance of dyslexia when the underlying problem is different.
These traits matter because they determine how interventions are targeted. A child with dyslexia needs explicit phonics instruction and structured literacy programs. A child with ADHD but no dyslexia may need support with attention and executive function rather than phonological training. A child with both ADHD and dyslexia will need a dual approach—structured literacy for decoding issues and attention or behavioral supports for focus and executive functioning.
In a nutshell, dyslexia shows up as reading that requires unusual effort and concentration, even when intelligence, vision, and educational opportunity are normal. Readers with dyslexia often describe the experience as non-automatic and sometimes like trying to process text in a less direct way. The research language for this is inefficient decoding, where instead of automatic word recognition, each word requires effortful analysis. The idea of two-dimensional processing, as you phrased it, can work as a metaphor, because dyslexic readers often rely on compensatory strategies—using context, memorization, or visual cues—instead of the direct, fast, one-directional route fluent readers use in the occipito-temporal “visual word form” area. Normal readers eventually use a unidirectional, streamlined pathway for fluent reading, while dyslexic readers may rely more on alternative or effortful routes (Shaywitz & Shaywitz, 2008).
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Snowling, M. J. (2019). Dyslexia: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Peterson, R. L., & Pennington, B. F. (2015). Developmental dyslexia. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 11, 283–307. doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-032814-112842
Shaywitz, S. (2020). Overcoming dyslexia (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
Shaywitz, S. E., & Shaywitz, B. A. (2008). Paying attention to reading: The neurobiology of reading and dyslexia. Development and Psychopathology, 20(4), 1329–1349. doi.org/10.1017/S0954579408000631
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Farida Bouattoura
Machiavelli, the Republic, and The Prince
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a lifelong servant of the Florentine Republic, employed as Second Chancellor from 1498 until the Medici coup of 1512. He was no aristocrat but a civil servant and diplomat, deeply invested in republican government. When the Medici returned to power, he was dismissed, accused of conspiracy, imprisoned, and tortured with the strappado. After his release, politically ruined, he retired to his farm in exile. It was in this context that he composed The Prince (1513), dedicating it to Lorenzo de’ Medici. On the surface, The Prince reads as a handbook for princely power, filled with advice that is brazenly immoral. Machiavelli recommends destroying conquered institutions (Ch. 3), praises founders who use violence (Ch. 6), glorifies Cesare Borgia’s ruthless cunning (Ch. 7–8), insists that rulers should not aim at goodness but only appear good (Ch. 15), and argues it is safer to be feared than loved (Ch. 17). In Ch. 18, he famously declares: “A wise ruler cannot, and should not, keep his word when it is against his interest.” Taken literally, this is the textbook of tyranny — so much so that “Machiavellian” entered the language as shorthand for cunning and cruelty.
Yet many scholars have argued that this literalist reading misses the point. Rousseau (1762/2012) wrote: “While pretending to teach kings, Machiavelli taught the people the true nature of tyranny” (The Social Contract, IV.7). Nietzsche, in Beyond Good and Evil, noted that Machiavelli revealed “how a prince must act… and with what moral pretenses he may cloak himself, in order to appear virtuous while he is not” (§197). In The Will to Power, Nietzsche sharpened the claim: “Machiavelli does not corrupt, he only unmasks the corrupt.” These interpretations view The Prince not as advice but as irony —a work that exposes the logic of tyranny by exaggerating it. The irony is especially sharp in Machiavelli’s choice of Cesare Borgia as his model “prince.” Borgia was bold and ruthless, but his power collapsed after the death of his father, Pope Alexander VI, in 1503. By 1507, Borgia was dead, at the age of only 31. To praise him as an ideal is puzzling if Machiavelli’s aim was serious instruction. It makes more sense if Borgia functions as a warning: a failed tyrant, a figure whose brutality illustrates the fragility of power without legitimacy.
Despite these subtler readings, the literalist interpretation dominated public reception. Mussolini, in a 1924 preface to The Prince, celebrated Machiavelli as a realist: “The truth is that Machiavelli was a realist who saw things as they really are, not as they ought to be.” Similarly, Hitler and other fascists treated the book as a manual for strategy and domination. This misreading was facilitated by the Medici themselves: The Prince appeared flattering, and they had no reason to censor a text that portrayed fear and cruelty as practical tools of rule. The more profound paradox, then, is that a republican, tortured by the Medici, dedicated to them a book that seems to glorify tyranny. To take this at face value is to accept that Machiavelli abandoned his lifelong republicanism to beg for favor. Yet the text’s extremity suggests another possibility: The Prince is an act of cunning revenge, holding up a mirror to tyranny while ensuring its survival under the guise of flattery. By illustrating power without ethics in its most extreme form, Machiavelli warned humanity about the true nature of tyranny. The tragedy is that most readers — both familiar and scholarly — missed the irony, treating the text as realism rather than an exposure. If anything, the ruthless methods described should be called Medician, not Machiavellian.
References
Machiavelli, N. (1513/1998). The Prince (Q. Skinner & R. Price, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Rousseau, J.-J. (1762/2012). The Social Contract (H. C. Mansfield & D. Winch, Eds.). University of Chicago Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1886/1998). Beyond Good and Evil (R.-P. Horstmann & J. Norman, Eds.). Cambridge University Press.
Nietzsche, F. (1901/1967). The Will to Power (W. Kaufmann & R. J. Hollingdale, Trans.). Vintage.
Mussolini, B. (1924). Preface to Il Principe (Italian edition).
Ridolfi, R. (1963). The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli. University of Chicago Press.
Najemy, J. M. (2010). A History of Florence, 1200–1575. Wiley-Blackwell.
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Farida Bouattoura
Why ADHD is often overdiagnosed — and in whom
Overdiagnosis tends to arise when interpretive criteria are applied under time pressure with limited informants, creating room for bias and context effects. Studies show clinicians sometimes diagnose ADHD even when full DSM criteria aren’t met, with gender bias increasing the likelihood of diagnosing boys with identical vignettes (Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider, 2012). Large population work also points to the relative-age effect: the youngest children in a classroom are more likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, suggesting developmental immaturity is misread as pathology (Merten, Cwik, Margraf, & Schneider, 2017). In parallel, girls and women are relatively underdiagnosed, partly because their presentations are less disruptive and more inattentive/internalizing (Adler, Shaw, Sitt, Maya, & Morrill, 2017).
Adolescent development: traits without disorder
Multiple neurodevelopmental reviews show that adolescence normally features weaker executive control, higher impulsivity, and emotional lability because prefrontal systems mature into the mid-20s (Casey, Jones, & Hare, 2008; Sowell, Thompson, Holmes, Jernigan, & Toga, 2003; Luna, Padmanabhan, & O’Hearn, 2010). These developmentally typical traits can look like ADHD in teens, increasing the risk that age-expected behavior is over-pathologized.
Symptom overlap with other conditions (the diagnostic “look-alikes”)
• Trauma / PTSD: Hyperarousal, distractibility, irritability, and regulation problems mimic ADHD; trauma can be misclassified as ADHD without careful history (Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway, 2011).
• Depression & Anxiety: Inattention, restlessness, and executive-function complaints are common in mood and anxiety disorders, increasing non-specificity of ADHD criteria (Adler et al., 2017).
• Autism (ASD): Social-communication differences and executive-function deficits produce symptom overlap; comorbidity and misattribution are common (Merten et al., 2017, overview; see also clinical syntheses cited therein).
• Sleep disorders / chronic sleep loss: Insufficient or poor-quality sleep can present with inattention, hyperactivity, and behavioral dysregulation, masquerading as ADHD in children and adults (summarized in Merten et al., 2017).
These overlaps explain why critics emphasize medicalization and construct boundaries rather than denying traits per se (Conrad & Bergey, 2014). The traits are real; the challenge is that they are non-specific and context-dependent, so thresholding them into a single label is inherently fallible.
Bottom line for practice
Across studies, the most defensible stance is: (a) acknowledge real traits and impairment, (b) recognize that adolescent development and overlapping conditions can produce the same behavioral picture, and (c) reduce error by using multi-informant, longitudinal, multi-disciplinary assessment and second opinions, especially because there are no diagnostic biomarkers (APA, 2013; Conrad & Bergey, 2014; Bruchmüller et al., 2012; Merten et al., 2017).
References
Adler, L. A., Shaw, D. M., Sitt, D. J., Maya, E., & Morrill, M. I. (2017). Issues in the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD by primary care physicians. Primary Psychiatry, 14(5), 57–63.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582
Casey, B. J., Jones, R. M., & Hare, T. A. (2008). The adolescent brain. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1124(1), 111–126. doi.org/10.1196/annals.1440.010
Conrad, P., & Bergey, M. (2014). The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 122, 31–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.019
Luna, B., Padmanabhan, A., & O’Hearn, K. (2010). What has fMRI told us about the development of cognitive control through adolescence? Brain and Cognition, 72(1), 101–113. doi.org/10.1016/j.bandc.2009.08.005
Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5
Sowell, E. R., Thompson, P. M., Holmes, C. J., Jernigan, T. L., & Toga, A. W. (2003). In vivo evidence for post-adolescent brain maturation in frontal and striatal regions. Nature Neuroscience, 2(10), 859–861. doi.org/10.1038/13154
Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
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Farida Bouattoura
Key Critics and Scholars of ADHD
1. Peter Conrad
• One of the most influential sociologists on the medicalization of behavior.
• Key works:
• Conrad, P. (1975). The discovery of hyperkinesis: Notes on the medicalization of deviant behavior. Social Problems, 23(1), 12–21.
• Conrad, P., & Bergey, M. (2014). The impending globalization of ADHD: Notes on the expansion and growth of a medicalized disorder. Social Science & Medicine, 122, 31–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.10.019
2. Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider
• Psychological researchers who empirically tested ADHD diagnostic practices.
• Showed that clinicians often diagnose ADHD even when criteria are not fully met.
• Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582
3. E. C. Merten and colleagues
• Examined overdiagnosis of ADHD in children and adolescents across developed countries.
• Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5
4. Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway
• Raised concern about diagnostic confusion between trauma and ADHD.
• Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
5. Joel Nigg
• Psychologist and researcher who emphasizes ADHD’s complexity and critiques oversimplified explanations.
• Nigg, J. T. (2013). Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and adverse health outcomes. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(2), 215–228. doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2012.11.005
6. Sami Timimi
• UK child psychiatrist critical of ADHD as a diagnostic label, arguing it reflects cultural norms as much as medical reality.
• Timimi, S., Taylor, E., & McCabe, R. (2004). Rethinking ADHD: From brain to culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
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Farida Bouattoura
ADHD, what’s the deal anyways ?
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Farida Bouattoura
What is the deal with ADHD? Is it even real ?
ADHD is widely acknowledged as involving real and observable traits such as distractibility, impulsivity, hyperactivity, and difficulties with emotional regulation (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). If these traits are persistent, chronic, and impair everyday functioning, then they must be addressed. The question is not whether the traits exist, but how they are categorized: is this best understood as a condition, or as a cluster of behaviors that has been overapplied in diagnosis?
Research shows ADHD is both overdiagnosed and underdiagnosed. Certain populations—such as boys in younger grade cohorts—are more likely to be diagnosed even when age-related immaturity may explain the behaviors (Bruchmüller, Margraf, & Schneider, 2012; Merten et al., 2017). At the same time, ADHD is underdiagnosed in women, girls, and minority groups whose symptoms may not match the “classic” hyperactive stereotype (Adler et al., 2017). This dual problem highlights the fuzziness of the construct.
There are no definitive biological markers for ADHD. Conditions like this are defined by human criteria, built by consensus around clusters of traits and thresholds. Critics are not denying the traits themselves but questioning how those traits are applied in diagnosis, sometimes leading to over-pathologization or misattribution of trauma, stress, or normative development (Szymanski, Sapanski, & Conway, 2011; Timimi, Taylor, & McCabe, 2004).
The reality is that traits remain whether or not they are labeled. Addressing them is essential when they impair functioning, regardless of whether the diagnosis is applied. The controversy centers less on the existence of ADHD as a construct and more on its application in practice. For this reason, second or even third opinions are strongly advised, given the absence of biological markers and the interpretive nature of diagnosis.
References
Adler, L. A., Shaw, D. M., Sitt, D. J., Maya, E., & Morrill, M. I. (2017). Issues in the diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD by primary care physicians. Primary Psychiatry, 14(5), 57–63.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). American Psychiatric Publishing.
Bruchmüller, K., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2012). Is ADHD diagnosed in accord with diagnostic criteria? Overdiagnosis and influence of client gender on diagnosis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 80(1), 128–138. doi.org/10.1037/a0026582
Merten, E. C., Cwik, J. C., Margraf, J., & Schneider, S. (2017). Overdiagnosis of mental disorders in children and adolescents (in developed countries). Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 11(5), 1–11. doi.org/10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5
Szymanski, K., Sapanski, L., & Conway, F. (2011). Trauma and ADHD—Association or diagnostic confusion? A clinical perspective. Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 10(1), 51–59. doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2011.575704
Timimi, S., Taylor, E., & McCabe, R. (2004). Rethinking ADHD: From brain to culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
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