Descriptions of busy and unmanagable children exists for more than 150 years (1847). The German doctor Hofmann writes in his book "Struwel Peter" (Peter the Dirty Kid) about "Zappel Philip (Philip the Impatient). After 1900 the interest rose about the relationship between some brain damages/disorders and behavior. In 1902 the London pediatrist Still described the hyperactve and compulsory behavior of 20 children and explained these behavioral problems through the organic braindeviation which was caused by trauma or inherited by birth.

Around 1950 they named this disordered behavior, which caused children to act impulsively, behaved very mobile and have concentration problems, the Minimal Brain Damage (MBD). They assumed a brain damage was the cause of this problematic behavior.

In the 60s there was doubt about the fact that brain damage was the only cause. The D of Damage was replaced: it was now the D of Dysfunction. After 1988 they named it to ADHD. This is the abbreviation which is commonly used.