George Frederic Still studied pediatrics and childhood conditions in England during the early twentieth century. In Still’s time, pediatrics, or the branch of medicine that focuses on treating and caring for children, remained largely unexplored according to biographer Joseph deBettencourt. Still helped advance pediatrics as a field by classifying and writing about diseases and conditions that arose in children. In 1897, he discovered a unique type of arthritis in children, now referred to as Still’s disease. Still also was one of the first to correctly describe what is now known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a disorder that can cause children to act impulsively and have trouble focusing, among other behaviors. He shared his understanding of those conditions and pediatrics as a whole in a popular textbook called Common Disorders and Diseases of Childhood. Still’s work helped establish pediatrics as a separate field of medicine and provide a foundation for pediatricians throughout the twentieth century to understand and expand on a variety of conditions developing children can face.

Ritalin is a medication that, since the 1950s, doctors in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere have prescribed to treat individuals with a variety of psychiatric symptoms, including depression, fatigue, and difficulties with attention and impulsivity. Chemist Leandro Panizzon first synthesized the drug in 1944 under the scientific name methylphenidate while working at the pharmaceutical company CIBA in Basel, Switzerland. CIBA patented the drug in 1950 and marketed it as Ritalin. The US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, approved Ritalin for use in children in 1961 and by the 1970s doctors were prescribing the drug to children who had received a medical diagnosis of hyperactivity. The American Psychiatric Association, or APA, replaced the diagnosis of hyperactivity with attention-deficit disorder, or ADD, in 1980, and with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, in 1987. Over that time, and since, Ritalin has remained a first-choice drug for physicians treating hyperactivity and attention deficits in both adults and children, while also generating discussion and debate about potential overuse, especially in children.