THE SO-CALLED ADHD AND POST-VACCINATION CLASSES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

In this article, we attempt to provide some explanations about the alleged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), addressing the phenomenon of the Medicalization of Education. We seek to do so with a critical view of the diagnoses production in the school context, especially after vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Medicalization of Education is a broad process, in which human aspects come to be seen as issues requiring medical intervention. It is a polysemic concept and encompasses exclusionary and reductionist practices. At a time when Brazil is beginning to resume life as we knew it before the COVID-19 pandemic, with the return of in-person classes, we see the return of advertisements and other forms of publicity, both for medications and hypothetical disorders that supposedly arise during school age. It is Psychology’s job to monitor historical and social changes, seeking to rethink and collectively build demedicalizing practices. In this article, we seek to clarify concepts necessary for understanding these processes. We expose how ADHD is understood through both medicalizing and de-medicalizing logics, and we pose questions: How will children return to school? How will teachers be prepared to welcome students? How will we deal with inattentive children, given the current context and the two years they have spent in social isolation? We use Historical-Cultural Psychology as a basis for explaining the processes of human development, an understanding of which is essential for addressing the Medicalization of Education and ADHD. We hope to build opportunities for action and inspire other professionals.

Keywords:
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; medicalization of education; historical-cultural psychology; COVID-19