ADHD diagnoses are growing. What's going on?

"But now, top US health officials argue that diagnoses have spiralled out of control. In May, the Make America Healthy Again Commission - led by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr - said ADHD was part of a "crisis of overdiagnosis and overtreatment" and suggested that ADHD medications did not help children in the long term. So what, exactly, is going on?"

"One thing that's clear is that several factors - including improved detection and greater awareness of ADHD - are causing people with symptoms to receive a diagnosis and treatment, whereas they wouldn't have years earlier. Clinicians say this is especially true for women and girls, whose pattern of symptoms was often missed in the past. Although some specialists are concerned about the risks of overdiagnosis, many are more worried that too many people go undiagnosed and untreated."

"At the same time, the rise in awareness and diagnoses of ADHD has fuelled a public debate about how it should be viewed and how best to provide support, including when medication is required. The emergence of the neurodiversity movement is challenging the view of ADHD as a disorder that should be 'treated', and instead proposes that it's a difference that should be better understood and supported - with more focus on adapting schools and workplaces, for instance."

ADHD diagnoses have risen in many regions, with over 11% of US children reported to have received a diagnosis at some point. Top US health officials have labeled ADHD part of a crisis of overdiagnosis and overtreatment and questioned long-term benefits of medication. Improved detection and greater awareness have led to more diagnoses and treatment, particularly among women and girls whose symptoms were previously missed. Some specialists worry about overdiagnosis, while others fear persistent underdiagnosis and lack of treatment. The neurodiversity movement frames ADHD as a difference to be understood and supported, emphasizing adaptations in schools and workplaces.

Read at Nature