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Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber introduced the panel by noting the increasing interest in ADHD, particularly from a psychoanalytic perspective. Several reasons for this were postulated. One was the recent dialogue between psychoanalysis and contemporary neurobiology that promises to expand the ability to understand and treat psychopathology that has some neurobiological contributor. Others involve new developments from within psychoanalysis. For example, infant attachment and memory research have fostered alternative models and therapeutic techniques to treat early disturbances of affect regulation, symbolization, and mentalization — all central dysfunctions in ADHD. The last reason for the growing discussion about ADHD in psychoanalytic circles was thought to be an effort by self-critical psychoanalysts to respond to competition with other treatment modalities, most prominently, cognitive-behavioral and psychopharmacological ones. She emphasized that psychoanalytic concepts offer the possibility of shedding light on the complex and multiple determinants of ADHD, thereby allowing for more differentiated diagnoses and treatment strategies that accept the likelihood of different psychodynamic subgroupings of children who might all receive the same descriptive diagnosis of ADHD.
Dieter Bùrgin expanded on this introduction, emphasizing the symptom triad of ADHD: (1) attentional problems; (2) overactivity; and (3) poor impulse control. Each of the mental functions underlying these symptoms is dependent on the quality of the relationship between the infant and caretaker. Thus one can assume that a child with longstanding disturbances in these three functions had difficulty finding adequate help in developing them. ADHD children often have histories reflecting disturbances in infantile development, impaired attachment, and other ego disruptions. Early object loss and/or psychic conflict are also often found in their histories. However, the multitude of factors prohibits general