ABSTRACT
It will not come as a surprise to anyone that there is no perfectly effective treatment for hyperkinesis. 1 Therefore, the quest for new interventions is not only justified, but highly deserving, Yet, much of the effort that has been invested in the development of novel therapies has not stemmed from a realistic, sober appraisal of the merits and demerits of existing treatments, but often from ideological views that were in conflict with practice. The treatment of hyperkinesis, like much of the rest of psychological and psychiatric practice, has been polarized between those amenable to the use of medication and those unsympathetic, if not hostile, to it. Fortuitously, the conflictual climate that has characterized the therapeutics of hyperkinesis has had a remarkably positive effect because it has stirred the profession into action. As a result, the treatment of hyperkinesis is among the best studied of all psychiatric disorders.
