JORDY, C.F, GORODSCY, R.C. The hyperactive child and the body: a clinical study on the origin of hyperactivity in children. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 1996;54:628-36. Goals: For this study, the objective of better analyzing the determinant value of affective disorders in hyperactive children. Methods: A group of 22 hyperactive children from 7 to 12 years of age was selected among 38 out-patients registered at Hospital of the State of São Paulo. Their psychiatric evaluation was negative. Only thirteen children were referred to psychotherapy with individual sessions once a week for an uninterrupted period of up to one year without diets nor medicines and were used: semi-structured anamnesis with parents, complete neurological evaluation and laboratory tests, including electroencephalogram and computerized axial tomography of the skull, clinical and laboratory data obtained from medical records, psychological evaluation using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale Test for Children, the Drawing-and-Story Procedure, the Concentrated Attention Test of the CEPA Battery, the Bender Gestalt Test and also the critical analysis of anamnesis data. Results: After six months and one year of treatment, the children were reevaluated. They showed improved school performance, reduced hyperactivity, and better internal psychic organization. These results are considered as undeniable evidence of the psychodynamic hyperactivity syndrome in children, when no definite neurologic or psychiatric diseases are demonstrated.