Why is Everyone Talking about ADHD?
I wonder if you’ve had this thought over the last 3 years: ‘why is everyone talking about ADHD?’
For many, I know it has felt like suddenly everyone was getting diagnosed, from someone you follow online to your next door neighbour. There’s a good reason for that! Let’s break it down.
Over the years, ADHD has had a few culture shifts, from the introductive of subtypes (remember when we said ADD and ADHD?) to changes in our understanding of gender’s impact on presentation. The recent introduction of research centred on women and girls revealed that females are more likely to present with inattentive-type and therefore less likely to be diagnosed. Also, diagnosis is more likely to happen later in life, and more likely to occur during peak periods of stress and hormone change (puberty, pregnancy, and perimenopause).
We also learnt that chronic depression and anxiety can be caused by undiagnosed ADHD. Many people who had been seeking answers around why they struggled for years with their mental health, despite trying multiple treatment options, had a new pathway to explore. Especially if they are experiencing inattentive-type ADHD, which is less often recognised in childhood, but still has huge impacts on adulthood (like workplace stress, feeling out of control, being unable to manage finances).
These two things rippled across the healthcare community and created more awareness and… you guessed it… more people getting diagnosed. So long story short, these people always had ADHD, we just weren’t very good at recognising it!
I’m sure we still don’t know the full picture of ADHD yet as the research is still young and evolving. Maybe in a few years, we will have much more nuance to add to this discussion.
For now, let’s consider why it’s wonderful-important-overwhelming that suddenly ADHD is in the zeitgeist. We know diagnosis alone improves health outcomes. For many, support options such as medication, therapeutic care, and lifestyle changes make a huge impact. A life changing impact even!
People report being able to do things they’ve wanted to do for years, like read a book, finish a project, or improve their finances. I have heard one person say they had not read a book in twenty years and after starting medication, they read 3 books in a month.
This isn’t to say that medication works for everyone, or for every aspect of ADHD, but I wanted to share an example of why we need to keep this awareness rolling.
If you’ve read this and you’re still going – but what is ADHD really, check out our list of common experiences of adults with ADHD below.
Or… if you’ve read this and you think it might relate to you, check out our ADHD Assessment package.
Warm wishes,
Grace
