Why Are More People Getting Diagnosed with ADHD?

There is stigma around ADHD & neurodiversity’s related to an upsurge in diagnosis in the last three to five years globally. Within the Review of Canadian diagnosed with ADHD prevalence within the past decade, it states that ADHD prevalence worldwide is estimated at 5.3% (Espinet, et al., 2022).

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is “The most common neurodevelopmental disorder of childhood” (Espinet, et al., 2022, p. 1) “Estimates for children include 7.5% in Australia and 10.2% in the United States. Two studies on adolescents in China and Africa provided estimates of 6.3% and 7.5%, respectively. One German study on children and adolescents combined provides an estimate of 6.1%. Estimates are typically lower for adults than for children and adolescents. A 2021 survey conducted in the United States, for example, found an ADHD prevalence rate for adults of 4.25%. Findings from two recent worldwide meta-analyses suggest a prevalence of 3.4% in children and adolescents, and a lower prevalence in adults of 2.6%.” (Espinet, et al., 2022, pg. 1) It may appear that 5.3% globally might not seem like that much, however our current population is 7,942,645,086 (Moore, 2022) meaning that roughly 5.3% of 7,942,645,086 would be 420,960,189 (Calculator.net, 2023). If over four hundred and twenty thousand people globally have diagnosed ADHD is would be interesting to know the number including individuals with misdiagnosis and undiagnosed. To compare there is about 1-2 percent of the population that has red hair (Holland, 2019). Just as you might know someone with red hair, there is over a double statistical chance that you might know someone with a neurodiversity of the brain. There has been rising numbers within Canada of ADHD diagnosis and medication treatment nationwide (Espinet, et al., 2022).

There are a number of reasons why this has been, a glaring observation has to be that females are being studied, when prior the focus of neurodiversity research had been on males (Crawford, 2003). Secondly the research had been related to children and now how undiagnosed neurodiversity’s could impact adults’ quality of life (Crawford, 20023). "Historically, research on ADHD has focused almost exclusively on hyperactive little boys, and only in the past six or seven years has any research focused on adult ADHD," says Nadeau, an expert on the disorder in women and director of Chesapeake Psychological Services of Maryland in Silver Spring. "And the recognition of females [with the disorder] has lagged even further behind." (Crawford, 2003)

Going back a decade the reasoning for not researching woman was related to the diagnostic criteria which is related to male symptomatic behaviour as opposed to more female expressions of ADHD. "Girls with untreated ADHD are at risk for chronic low self-esteem, underachievement, anxiety, depression, teen pregnancy, early smoking during middle school and high school," says Nadeau. (Crawford,2003).

There are a lot of reasons as to why there are more diagnosis currently happening, something that needs to be mentioned is the presentation showing up differently in a way that is more personable. The internet in 2020-2021 particularly Tiktok & Instagram Reels have had creators share vulnerably about how ADHD and their neurodiversity’s show up for them in a day-to-day way. If I can speak on this from my own experience, I would say that having studied psychology for nearly seven years I can say that my understanding of ADHD based off a textbook did not do the disorder justice.

Real individuals, sharing their real experiences and how it effects their daily functionality painted a richer picture of ADHD than many of us might enjoy admitting.

References:

Beaton, D. M., Sirois, F., & Milne, E. (2022, February 18). Experiences of criticism in adults with ADHD: A qualitative study. PloS one. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8856522/

Braico,J., & Moore, C. (2022, March 15) Medically reviewed by Jeffrey Ditzell, DO . How ADHD affects object permanence and what it means for relationships. Healthgrades. https://www.healthgrades.com/right-care/adhd/adhd-object-permanence

Crawford, N. (2003, February). ADHD: A Women’s issue. Monitor on Psychology. https://www.apa.org/monitor/feb03/adhd

Espinet, S. D., Graziosi, G., Toplak, M. E., Hesson, J., & Minhas, P. (2022, August 8). A review of Canadian diagnosed ADHD prevalence and incidence estimates published in the past decade. Brain sciences. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9406225/

Holland, K. (2019, June 15). Red Hair, Blue Eyes: How Common is the genetic combination?. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/red-hair-blue-eyes#other-insights

Moore, D. (2022, December 29). U.S. population estimated at 334,233,854 on Jan. 1, 2023. Census.gov. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/12/happy-new-year- 2023.html#:~:text=The%20projected%20world%20population%20on,expected%20worldwide%20every%201%20second.