ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, is today one of the best known and apparently most widespread neuropsychic disorders. According to AIFA, approximately 1.26 million people suffer from it in Italy, of which 317,000 children and adolescents between 6 and 17 years old.
But what is behind the increase in diagnoses recorded in recent years? Is it a real boom, or are other factors coming into play? An in-depth study published on Nature try to clarify: here’s what emerges.
More or less rigorous diagnoses. One reason for the increase in ADHD diagnoses concerns the way they are made. Some studies are based on data that is not always scientific: this is the case of the national survey cited in a report by the US commission Make America Healthy Again, in which parents were simply asked whether a doctor or health care provider had ever told them their child had ADHD, leading to potentially inflated results.
Instead, applying standardized procedures to evaluate symptoms, scientists observe a rather uniform prevalence of the disorder worldwide, which would affect approximately 5.4% of children and 2.6% of adults.
Changes in the DSM. Another factor that may have contributed to the increase in ADHD diagnoses concerns changes in the diagnostic criteria of the DSM, the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. In the fourth edition, in use until 2013, the presence of at least six symptoms of inattention or six of hyperactivity was required before the age of seven. In the edition currently in force the criteria have been slightly relaxed: the symptoms must be at least five for adults and six for children, and be present before the age of 12.
Undiagnosed parents. According to pediatric neurologist Max Wiznitzer, the increase in diagnoses in children may also have contributed to parents being diagnosed with the disorder, since ADHD has a heritability of 70-80%. “Although those parents most likely showed symptoms as children, many of them never received a diagnosis,” he explains.
Social media and the environment. Social media and the environment may also have contributed to the increase in ADHD diagnoses. In recent years, platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have sparked debate on the topic, with numerous public figures declaring that they suffer from ADHD and sharing their experiences. According to Margaret Sibley, a specialist in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, talking about ADHD on social media may have helped “people who had been living with these symptoms and difficulties for a long time, but had never understood what it was”.
What if there was a hand in the world we live in? Some experts suggest that schools, workplaces, technology and other aspects of everyday life have become so complex that the difficulties associated with ADHD are more evident. For Jeff Karp, a biomedical engineer diagnosed with ADHD, the disorder is «context-dependent: In a school where children are expected to stay still and silent, these traits end up seeming like a problem.”
In conclusion, the increase in ADHD diagnoses depends only in part on a real increase in cases and is above all linked to environmental and cultural factors and changes in diagnostic criteria.
