ADHD ‘not over-diagnosed’ despite surge in Ritalin prescriptions

Children are not being over-diagnosed with ADHD despite concerns about a spike in prescriptions of powerful stimulant drugs, a leading psychiatrist has said.

NHS statistics show 125,000 children and teenagers in England are taking drugs such as Ritalin for symptoms such as poor concentration, up by a quarter since before the Covid pandemic.

Isobel Heyman, a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist at Great Ormond Street Hospital and lead for child mental health at Cambridge Children’s Hospital, said that on the whole ADHD remained “under-treated” and that this was driving high levels of mental illness in young people.

Speaking to the Times Health Commission, Heyman said: “My understanding is that the increase in prescribing is largely related to increased diagnosis and increased recognition … We are still overall slightly under-treating [rather] than over-treating.

“There is a problem about over-medicalisation of ordinary distress, ordinary ebullience and over-enthusiasm in young people.”

She said the public should be reassured that ADHD diagnoses follow a “very stringent” process. However, she said private adult ADHD clinics may be less “rigorous” in providing a diagnosis.

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Source: The Times, 18 October 2023

Further reading:

• Long waits for ADHD diagnosis and treatment are a patient safety issue