James Costa
James Costa is an intern at Cosmos. He has completed his Master of Journalism at the University of Melbourne.
A rise in the number of articles about adult ADHD on social media might have led to an increase in people who believe they have the illness, according to a new survey.
The survey of US citizens by Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre shows that 25 per cent of adults believe they might have undiagnosed Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
And the survey, of 1006 adults, also showed that 13 per cent had discussed their suspicion with their doctor, and 14 per cent had self-diagnosed by comparing their symptoms with known ADHD traits.
Fifty-five per cent said they did not believe they had ADHD.
Professor Adam Guastella, a clinical psychologist from the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, who wasn’t involved with the research, says there has been “an increase in awareness about ADHD and some of the implications of ADHD in terms of being able to focus and pay attention”.
“I think it’s quite easy for people to think that the symptoms of ADHD are common and they are relatable to everyday experiences,” Guastella told Cosmos, “but what you see in clinical practice is that when the diagnosis is actually made, that the symptoms are far more impairing and more complex than those sorts of statements suggest.”
According to the Health Direct website, ADHD can present differently for each person but generally it can cause “inattentive symptoms”, where a person is easily distractible or unable to stick to tasks, or “hyperactive” and “impulsive” symptoms, where a person has difficulty keeping still or concentrating, and might act without thinking. It can also present as a combination of some or all of those symptoms.
Globally, ADHD is estimated to affect more than 500 million adults. A recent Australian survey suggests that 6 to 10% of all children suffer from ADHD, and 2 to 6% of adults.
Guastella, who leads the Clinic for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Research at the Brain and Mind Centre, says that it is “good” that ADHD awareness has increased but warned that “a lot of the information is not coming from reliable sources and could be misinterpreted quite easily”.
“I think that that type of misinformation causes problems because it sort of devalues the impairing aspects of the disorder to people who’ve got the full experience of ADHD and what that means to them,” he says.
ADHD medication doubled in Australia over 5 years
In 2022, data showed that around 414,000 Australians take medication for ADHD, more than doubling since 2018.
That dramatic rise was partly due to private healthcare prescriptions previously not being counted in the data and an increased availability of ADHD drugs under the publicly funded Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), but there are other important factors to consider Guastella says – including that data can often be a couple of years old by the time it is analysed.
“Australia came from a fairly low base, so when you look at the percentage of children and adults that have ADHD, and then the percentage of children and adults that have been medicated… there needed to be a massive increase for even half the population to get appropriate treatment.
“ADHD is different to a lot of other medical conditions, where medication is really the first line treatment. Therefore, the statistics of increased ADHD medication prescriptions may “largely reflect people actually getting the treatment they need.
“There’s often a debate around over-diagnosis but the government has been quite proactive in putting good guidelines in place to try and reduce dodgy practices where they exist, so that people who shouldn’t be getting the medication aren’t getting it.”
In 2023, in response to increased awareness of ADHD and its symptoms, the Australian Senate held an inquiry into the barriers facing those seeking assessment and treatment for the disorder.
In its final report, released November 2023, the inquiry made 15 recommendations, which included a focus on the financial burden of assessment and treatment, the development of a national framework for ADHD support services, research and policy, and increased access to care in regional, rural and remote areas.
The Australian government has yet to provide its response to the recommendations of the Senate Inquiry, despite a three-month deadline.
