To wonder about the huge rise in people being diagnosed with ADHD?

[Starryskiesinthesky]

I am genuinely curious to understand why so many people are now being diagnosed, or self identifying with, having ADHD.

Is it just being recognised now with an awareness in neurodiversity or is everything labelled these days?

My son has dyslexia / a specific spelling difficulty and I suspect he has ADD/ADHD but wouldn't be severe enough to warrant medication. At what stage do we move from differences / traits to diagnosis? It does feel a bit like many aspects of our behaviour become medicalised.

I guess my AIBU is to wonder if too many people think they have ADHD/are neurodiverse these days?

{{FeelingItNow}} that sounds really tough. Have you spoken to your GP? Do you think medication could help you?

Can you actually evidence this or is it just armchair ruminating.

I genuinely believe that although I’d have still had ADHD 100 years ago I would have been more functional as I’d have had less stuff to keep on top of and less distractions

This is key for me. I was thinking a lot about it the other day. 100 years ago I’d have either not worked at all, or worked as a maid or in a factory or something. Money would have been handled by my husband most likely. Life would be hard obviously but it would be the same routine every day, no big decisions to make, unlikely I’d be using my brain at work, or outside of it very much!

Now I have to hold down a full time job, full of problem solving. I have to “think” every minute of my work time. Then I have to handle all the household finances, try and make sure my bills are paid and deal with any issues that arise. Keep on top of household chores. Make appointments for this, that and the other. And yes there’s so many more competing distractions. My brain does struggle with it all.

We have so many choices over so many things now that it’s overwhelming. I can go to a supermarket to get something for dinner and wander round not knowing what to buy as it’s all to much choice. When I was a kid you had set meals for each day of the week and that was that. Everything requires thinking and deciding.

So yes, my ADHD came to light as a result of me not managing to keep on top of it all. Something that wouldn’t have happened if I’d had a much simpler life as many people did years ago. It’s not really hard to see why so many more people are being diagnosed now.

It’s not environmental, it’s genetic! Now I’ve been diagnosed (by a GMC registered Psychiatrist) it is clear to me that my mother, my grandfather and his sister all have/had it. They just had to cope as best they could, having lives of chaotic mental health issues, alcoholism and related cancer, and suicide respectively. I am the lucky one!

Smells a bit ableist, this post.

But we didn't have all of that In the 90s! Maybe that explains kids of today but not the increasing amount of adults who are being diagnosed in this decade.

The constant threads like this and the opinions from everyone who says people are just jumping on the bandwagon are the main thing massively putting me off from going to my GP about this. My day to day life is an absolute nightmare, similar to how some of the pp's have described theirs, but with so many people thinking it's just a fad or a trend, what's the likelihood that my GP is going to think that too

I really don’t think that this is a new phenomenon, or that modern world is somehow exacerbating this issue. I think the increased knowledge, understanding and diagnosis options are positive. I believe it has always been here, we did not understand or acknowledge before.

In my own family, those of us my generation and older all had/have issues with some of all of MH/ addiction/challenging behaviour as children/ learning issues and a whole other raft of issues that we would now consider to be neurodiversity. These issues have been lifelong although more managed now we are older. Some of us are seeking diagnosis’s.

The next generation age range from 5 to 30. And every single one of them has clear ND. Some are diagnosed now with ADHD/ASD/ Dyslexia and others are on the assessment pathway and will almost certainly be diagnosed.

I am sure I have ADHD although not pursuing diagnosis at this stage. One of my children is on the verge of being diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD, already diagnosed with dyslexia. My other child is on the pathway but functions a little higher and does not have dyslexia. Life is tough for them.

This is not some new fashion!

Consider when those with MH issues were considered to be defective, or insane and spent their lives in institutions or asylums? No doubt a mix of learning difficulties, neurodiversity, mental health conditions and so on. Our understanding about MH has developed more quickly than for neurodiversity.

Women are seeking a dx in a greater number than ever before. Years ago such Women were prescribed anti depressants and given a dx of mental illness. My own grandmother was dx with manic depression as Bipolar was called then. Was put on a ridiculous amount of medication from her early 20s til she died in her 60s. When my own child was dx with ASD/ADHD/Dyspraxia my mother could see echoes of her mothers behaviour.
Neurodiversity isn't on the rise in huge amounts so much as its finally being recognised in girls and women.

Please support your DS and don't ever voice that you think he's lazy.

Just because a school doesn't raise concerns about a child doesn't mean they're neurotypical. My DD is autistic, I came to the conclusion myself when she was 8 and she was finally dx at 11. The school had never raised any concerns with us, obviously she masks well at school and she wasn't on their radar.

It's really helped me to be correctly diagnosed and put on the right medication. Before I was diagnosed with a ton of different mental health issues and tried on lots of anti depressants, which do the opposite to adhd meds, which make things worse. Despite my insistence that I don't feel depressed, the medication continued. One day someone said maybe you don't have 20 mental illnesses maybe you need to check for adhd. My life is so much better now. It's not about a label for me, only 2 people in my life know about it, it's about having the right medication and being able to live a normal life.

I'm a bit pissed off that none of the doctors previously thought of checking for ND my entire life, but I'm glad it's been done now. It makes a lot of things in childhood make sense. Maybe I would have done better in school if I'd been given support instead of being screamed at and allowed to drop out of classes. I was clever and so my inability to do the work frustrated everyone, including me, so I just quit. It feels really nice to not be frustrating everyone now.

Please please don't be put off by the ignorance of people with no medical training.

Your GP should refer you for assessment as they are medically trained and not just a random on the internet.

Sending you

If you’re struggling, seek help. Don’t let a load of really ignorant posters on here have any impact on your life. These threads keep popping up and people talk shit often presenting their opinions as facts.

We have been told that there is a rare genetic metabolic disease, running in our family, after DD had her whole genome sequenced. DH and I carry the same gene mutation, and one DD has inherited both genes from us, and it’s suspected another has. We are all to have our genes checked. One of the effects of this metabolic disorder is ADD.

As genome sequencing becomes more common in the NHS, I suspect other families will get diagnoses, which explain the symptoms family members exhibit.

It might put an end to some people being told their symptoms are all psychological!

I have to say @Starryskiesinthesky that I’m a bit hurt by the phrasing of you question, who are you to know the thoughts, feelings and struggles of others? Being ND is absolutely f*ing knackering, you don’t get a holiday from it, it breaks up relationships, people judge you and the world is a slightly harsher place. NONE OF THIS IS TRENDY!

Being diagnosed as ND is a big thing, especially in adults. While it can bring peace to know why you are who you are, it can also bring a fair bit of grieving for what could have been only if you known sooner. I think back on my school/ college/ university and early career years and I really am shocked at things that were said to and about me - I had a primary school teacher who told my mum they needed a hearing aid for me which was a long stick with a pin on the end so they could jab me. I had a second line manager that would rip pens out my hand because I would doodle in meetings - none of this was ok (and I have a 100
more examples.) Then when you do know the battle of arranging reasonable adjustments to continue to cope at work arrives - again none of this is trendy fun, please believe me.

I actually think in a way a childhood diagnosis could be slightly more helpful as you get more years of practice for what works for you and by the time you hit the cruel world of work you’re perhaps slight more prepared to handle things.

ND is becoming more known and hopefully less stigmatised by people speaking out, so yeah people are going to be learning more and recognising the diagnostic traits in themselves - for me it was an Instagram post that triggered my discovery. And this is great, because an ND person in school
or work does need a bit more support. I heard someone say about their ADHD and co-morbities that at work they feel disabled because the modern workplace isn’t designed for them but at home they don’t feel disabled because they can design their life to work with their condition. Should this person give up work or should they have reasonable adjustments and be able to continue working?

There is nothing wrong with taking medication to manage living with a condition or disability. Noone would tell a person with arthritis they can’t have a walking stick and pain medication to manage the condition- so how is different for ADHD and other ND diagnoses?

Also ND people are at a higher chance of Co-morbidities and ADHD girls & women fly under the radar and are often misdiagnosed as depressed etc. Plus when you get to a certain age you get the joy of PMT alongside your flavour or ND and later on the menopause - Wooohooo!

Also the NHS waiting list for a ADHD assessment, especially for adults, is epically long and the NHS has just (almost nearly) come out the other side of a global pandemic… and the other funny thing about that global pandemic is that it took away normal life for 2 years. Gone we’re the daily routines undiagnosed ND’s had built up over years were gone overnight, along with every coping mechanism we had to help us manage living in a Neuro-Typical world… and people wonder why there may have been an uptick in ADHD and other ND diagnoses!

Gee I dunno who to trust - experts in psychology backed up by peer reviewed research or some random on the internet who is parroting the daily fail

Part of destigmatising mental health is willingness to admit that we're not all the same, more people have mental health challenges than we traditionally acknowledged, having a condition doesn't mean you're a failure. I don't see why ADHD sold be that different from being diagnosed with asthma or hayfever or something - a condition that can impact your life if left untreated.

Years ago my autistic son would have just been called vile names pertaining to his mental state - it wouldn't have been identified as autism.

why so many people are now being diagnosed, or self identifying with, having ADHD

Diagnoses, I think, are down to more awareness among parents, teachers, doctors, etc. People are finally talking about ND and recognising that many more people have it. This is good, IMO, because it de-stigmatises it for those who are ND and makes it easier for people to ask for and get accommodations.

As for people who 'self-identify', I'm afraid I have no truck with people jumping on the 'we're all ND in some way' bandwagon. Get a fucking diagnosis if you think you have it, otherwise shut up.

At what stage do we move from differences / traits to diagnosis?

For us, that point was when his differences/traits were derailing his education. I don't mind that he's quirky and makes strange noises and can be hyper, but when he struggles to calm down in class, focus, listen and actually learn and retain what he needs to, we were failing him and his future chances by not getting him diagnosed.

Screens do not cause neurodiversity, there have been studies and no link has been found.

And before anyone else starts giving their random theories it is also not caused by:

Vaccines
Plastic
Pesticides
Parenting
Diet

It is also not a mental illness. Neurodiverse people have a higher risk of suffering mental illness, mainly due to pressures of navigating a world not set up for their needs, but neurodiversity in itself is not a mental illness. It is a difference in brain development, there are structural differences between neurodiverse brains compared to neurotypical ones. There are strong genetic links, neurodiverse people are more likely to have neurodiverse children, even seemingly neurotypical people with one neurodiverse child have an increased chance of subsequent children also being neurodiverse - and I say "seemingly neurotypical" because its not at all uncommon for parents going through the assessment process with their child to realise that they too are probably neurodivergent.

Speaking as the mother of an ADHD (combined type) child I can tell you that it is not as easy to get a diagnosis as everyone seems to think it is. And, although I get the impression that some of you think that it is just an excuse for naughty children, it isn't (those "naughty" children usually have an additional diagnosis such as ODD or PDA). This is a condition that has a significant effect on children in many parts of their life and is lifelong.

I had a good inkling that DD (now 14) had it from the age of about 3 and exhibited traits in all areas of life from that age - not that I initially concluded it was ADHD (she is my only child so didn't really have a point of reference, but hindsight is 20/20). Initially, I had a demob happy (i.e. soon to retire) GP saying that because DD had sat on the floor and played with a toy in her office for a short period of time there was no way she had it and we were in and out in less than 5 minutes - she also said to go through the school if I was worried in future. Her primary school teacher (whom she ended up having for 3 years) downright bullied her (he was well known for playing favorites in his classes and DD was certainly not one of them - I used to have her classmates telling me stories of how he treated her in school - but he was seemingly untouchable* and there were no spaces in any other local school) and insisting that she was just a difficult child when I repeatedly asked if I/they should be arranging some form of assessment - note, I don't say naughty as she wasn't badly behaved, but instead incapable of staying in one place for long, impulsive, struggling to absorb instruction, in her own world etc.

I eventually had one of her primary school teachers approach me in year 6 and suggest she should be assessed - she was the only teacher at that school that had DDs back, and they managed the poor woman out because she was going to apply for the Head role and the acting Head (who had taught there for many years) wanted her out of the way so she could get it (this is common knowledge now). I was LIVID.

As soon as she started high school she was identified as requiring an assessment and the school and (new) GP were on the case, she had an assessment a few months later - we were lucky with the wait time, the waiting list to be assessed on the NHS can take years - they're usually carried out by either CAMHS or a community pediatrician who have a million and one other children to assess and treat for a variety of conditions, not just ADHD, so you can imagine their workload.

The assessment process is lengthy and multi-faceted and involves teachers as well as parents/carers. They used clinically recognised assessment tools and techniques and there are very strict diagnostic criteria.

I am on a couple of forums for parents of kids with ADHD, there are plenty of people out there whose children are still waiting to be seen after well over a year, many who have had an assessment and have been "rejected" (for want of a better term) after assessment and feel abandoned, many who didn't even get offered an assessment as their child didn't fit the criteria.

DD started medication about 5 weeks ago and I just had her first parent's evening. Although I suspect she needs to increase her dose slightly, most of her teachers have seen a marked improvement in her since starting. This is a hardcore stimulant drug, similar to an amphetamine, I have to show my ID to collect it from the pharmacy - it is not something that is doled out lightly.

Understanding of ADHD is still in its infancy, there is no blood test or scan that can diagnose it, but they know much more than they did, such as the part that neurons and their reuptake of certain neurotransmitters (e.g. dopamine) play, what causes ADHD such as genetic factors, as well environmental factors (exposure to certain chemicals in pregnancy or infancy) or alcohol/drug/tobacco use in pregnancy. So with an increase in understanding and identifying the condition, plus the prevalence of both environmental and social factors playing their part in children having the condition - THIS is the perfect storm.

The condition is something that has affected pretty much every part of DDs life, from schoolwork to friendships/relationships. Hopefully, it won't stop her from fulfilling her goals in life, but it is going to be a long hard slog for her (and us!) to get her there, hopefully the medication will help her achieve those dreams.

Because ADHD was under diagnosed in the past, especially in females, who represent differently to males.

Because many people with ADHD learn to ‘mask’, which causes burnout. They find themselves being treated for something else (anxiety, depression etc), but when they find out about ADHD, suddenly it makes sense and they can access treatment which helps (or stop something that isn’t working). Not just in terms of medication but CBT for example isn’t suitable for some types of ND because they can’t change the way they think.

Because ADHD is genetic and parents are seeking assessments for themselves once they have gone through the process with their children.

It is quite unhelpful seeing so many people questioning the prevalence of ADHD on these threads and somehow implying that they are following a trend and it’s not real. Would you say the same about any other physical or mental disorder?

Sorry - I put a * and then didn't follow up at the end.

DD was desperate that I didn't make things worse and confront the teacher/school - which I honoured, something which I desperately regret and feel like I let DD down. When she left and was quickly diagnosed I put a rocket up the (new) headteacher and board of governor's arse.

THIS

Sorry, but this is BS. Dyslexia and ADHD are co-morbid - which means that people with one often have the other. Not seeking diagnosis, when you feel that the condition is present, is not doing your DC any favours.

ADHD, autism and many other ND conditions were massively under-diagnosed in the past, that's why they seem to be everywhere now. They always were, it was just that we didn't have the right names for them.