ADHD - An Illustrated historical overview

and claimed to have been compelled to act as they did. The link between the approximately contemporaneous “Spanish” influenza epidemic and en- cephalitis lethargica remains unclear, but it is possible that influenza played a direct or indirect role in the etiology of the disorder. Encephalitis lethargica triggered behavioural changes in chil- dren that are not duplicated by any other neurologic condition, with the possible exception of traumatic brain injury. The ultimate fate of such chil- dren could hardly be more tragic: their behavioural problems receded during their early 1920s, only to be replaced by rapidly advancing parkinsonism from which there was no recovery. By Paul Foley, Sydney, Australia. Articles of Ebaugh (1923) and Stryker (1925) describing behavioural consequences of encephalitis in children.