Resumen

SANCHEZ, Omar Bello. Childhoods, diagnosis and mental health: discuorses on the diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in the Los Lagos region, Chile (2020-2021). Salud colect. [online]. 2022, vol.18, e4233.  Epub 16-Nov-2022. ISSN 1669-2381.  http://dx.doi.org/10.18294/sc.2022.4233.

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.

Palabras clave : Collective Health; Mental Health; Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; Childhoods; Chile.

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