What was interesting to me about that paper is that Sir Alexander Crichton noted that people who were born with it generally grew out of it. The authors note th

What was interesting to me about that paper is that Sir Alexander Crichton noted that people who were born with it generally grew out of it. The authors note that this belief was generally held into the 1990s, followed with a note that recent studies show 50% growing out of it. I do wonder if the nature of our modern lives- less physical activity, fewer working hours, with more 'mind' or white-collar jobs- has made us as a society less resilient to attention disorders like ADD or ADHD. It's possible that, given the lack of extensive recorded research into it at the time, we don't know that these kids who were observed as having grown out of it were properly accounted for. A poor sample could easily make 50% seem like "most" after all. Even so, it is worth wondering if non-pharmacological therapeutic treatment might be worth emphasizing more heavily. I don't know what it's like for kids in college now, but I recall meds like Adderall prescriptions being surprisingly common, and that it was being abused was something of an open secret.