ADHD diagnostics for adults for adults have increased a lot since 2020 – here’s why we are looking at the point

Allison Burkâ’s teenage daughter fought with uncontrolled emotions, a shrinking attention space, and a growing tendency to delay. A family doctor suggested the ADHD test, which led to a sudden discovery: the young man had ADHD, and Burk also did.

During her daughter’s appreciation, Burk thought, – Wait a minute. That sounds familiar, “she recalled.

“I was able to unite that this could be something I was experiencing,” Burk, from Columbus, Ohio said. She then underwent her testing and was diagnosed with ADHD – at the age of 42.

More adults are being diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Diagnoses have increased for decades, but appear to have accelerated in recent years.

A recent study suggested that more than 15 million US adults – approximately 1 in 17 “have been diagnosed with ADHD. The condition always begins in childhood, but about half of adults with them are diagnosed when they are 18 years old or older .

Some doctors say the number of people coming for evaluation is increasing.

“In our clinic, the appreciation requirements have doubled in the last two years,” said Justin Buterian, a psychologist based at Ohio State University.

Look here the phenomenon and how to know if you can have the condition.

Symptoms of ADHD in adults

ADHD makes it difficult for people to pay attention and control impulsive behaviors. It can be inherited and often treated with medication, behavioral therapy, or both.

â € œitâ € ™ is like there is an engine in you and you feel like it is always working, and you can’t turn it off except with medication, ”said Judy Sandler, a 62-year-old- old man Maine who u Diagnosed in its 50s.

ADHD is called the most common mental health disorder in American children, with more than 7 million children diagnosed. Historically, it was thought to mostly affected the boys (perhaps because the boys with ADHD were seen as more divisive at school) and be something the children grew up.

However, experts believe that many people are not diagnosed as children and live with symptoms at adulthood.

Adults with the situation talk about problems focus on tasks, deception responsibilities and planning and managing their time. Some talk about not removing things and tightening personal relationships with their concern, mood swings and impulsivity.

Burk said she was grouped with talented and talented students in classroom school, but did not complete the college until the 1930s because, “when I was 19 20. Now she works in marketing and media relationships For the College of Veterinary Medicine of Ohio State University.

Diagnoses have increased

Diagnoses have been glued to both children and adults, and a recent government report found that adhd adults were more common than previous estimates.

“We have not had (federal) ADHD data in a long time,” said one of the authors of the study, Angelika Claussen of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

There were indicators of the rise, she added. Increasing the demand for adhd medicines led to widespread deficiencies after the Covid-19 pandemic stroke in March 2020. A 2023 study showed that the increase in recipes was particularly evident in adults-especially women.

ADHD diagnoses and recipes were increasing before the pandemics, due to a change in general diagnostic criteria in 2013 that expanded the definition of ADHD and reduced the number of symptoms a patient had to have.

But counting the issues really seemed to be thrown in 2020, when schools were closed and many adults were forced to work from home.

â € is very difficult to focus when you are at home and have children, ”Claussen said.” This may have worsened symptoms for people who had mild ADHDs but were able to cope with the pandemia.

How is ADHD diagnosed in adults

In recent years they have seen a growing cultural acceptance and curiosity about the situation, driven by a spread of “I have social media videos and initial medical companies online that offer 5-minute diagnostic quizzes.

Indeed, long -term confidence that ADHD was under diagnosed among adults has given way to the latest debates if it has become overrated.

There is no blood test or brain scan for ADHD. Experts say it is diagnosed when the symptoms are severe enough to cause persistent problems in more than one area of ​​life, and when those symptoms can be traced in pre-adolescent childhood.

Ideally, a psychologist or psychiatrist diagnoses him by taking careful stories from patients and people who know them, experts say. They may also ask patients to do tests designed to control their memory and ability to concentrate. Doctors should also exclude anxiety, depression and other conditions that may have similar symptoms.

But getting a meeting with a mental health professional can take months, and ADHD’s intense estimates can cost thousands of dollars. Many patients turn to family physicians or even online diagnostic quizzes, some of them related to telecommunications companies that prescribe medication.

“There is widespread variability in this country in the way people diagnose, how strict they are and who they diagnose,” said Margaret Sibley, a University of Washington psychologist.

American Professional Society of ADHD and related disorders is designing the first national group of diagnostics and treatment guidelines for health professionals that treat adults and expects them to release them later this year.

The goal is to “improve the accuracy of diagnoses in this country,” said Sibley, who is running the work on guidance.