Trotz eines jüngsten Anstiegs der anerkannten Fälle wird ADHS in England nach wie vor erheblich unterdiagnostiziert. Durch die Analyse von Millionen von Krankenakten stellten Forscher fest, dass die Rate formeller Diagnosen weit unter den erwarteten globalen Durchschnittswerten liegt, insbesondere bei älteren Erwachsenen.
ADHD might remain underdiagnosed in England despite recent surge in recorded cases
37 Kommentare
**ADHD might remain underdiagnosed in England despite recent surge in recorded cases**
A recent study published in [*The Lancet Regional Health – Europe*](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101740) suggests that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder remains substantially underdiagnosed in England, despite a recent surge in recognized cases. By analyzing millions of medical records, researchers found that the rate of formal diagnoses falls far below expected global averages, especially among older adults. These findings highlight an ongoing need for better access to diagnostic services across all age groups.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(26)00152-3/fulltext
I get this is an important issue but some variety on this sub would be nice as it seems every other post is ADHD doom and gloom
Brits just cope and move along
My wife – now 67 – went to the states for some medical procedure and while there they diagnosed her with ADHD. No doctor here in the UK has done so.
The real question here should be how much of this is due to the over diagnosis in places like the US, Canada, Australia, and parts of Northern Europe driving the numbers up and how much is the NHS just not having the budget and doctors.
I looked at how long the process would be to get a formal diagnosis and to be honest I just couldnt be bothered, Ive decided I dont want to take meds for it and just knowing I have difficulty with some things has been enough to help me cope
Is it really? I understand among adults but for kids in schools now if they’re struggling, it seems one of the first things they can assume. But getting treatment takes time ofc as its NHS and not an emergency thing.
Yeah not surprised. I, and many in my position, had to go private for a diagnosis. Not everyone can afford that. And I suspect that diagnosis rates will plateau since a lot of gps won’t even acknowledge a private diagnosis these days meaning that you’re likely paying full price for medication if you go private, unless you get assessed again under the NHS, which means being stuck on a waiting list for years
I’ve got suspected ADHD, but to get anywhere you have to do right to choose, but the process seemed confusing enough for me to not follow up on it.
I prefer a step by step system of knowing what I need to do because I can get overwhelmed like that.
My local area won’t even let you get an assessment as an adult.
I requested to get diagnosed through right to choose but they halted funding in my area…
Impressive that diagnosis is surging because I’ve been on the waiting this for 4 years at this point and that is not at all a unique situation.
i dont think there is a country with humane approach to adhd ngl
here elvanse 50mg costs ~7-10% median monthly salary
It’s funny because my doctor in the UK keeps pushing me to get an ADHD assessment. It doesn’t help when it takes ~5 years. I already have bipolar, so I don’t need another label.
Why is everyone acting like ADHD can be treated? They determined the long term outcome for patients on ADHD meds is the same as those that do not take them. Yet the meds keep getting prescribed.
Had a referral 4 years ago, still waiting. No wonder it is under diagnosed. When I am better off might just go private for the meds.
Yeah the UK can’t afford it. There aren’t enough drugs for treatment available either.
I have personal experience of this in the UK. I had an autism assessment first, I was told I didn’t have autism but showed significant ADHD traits that they weren’t allowed to formally diagnose as it was the autism service. Referred to the ADHD service I was told after a significant number of tests, forms, personal testimony of a close friend that had known me for over 20 years, and online interviews that – they couldn’t diagnose me as I did not provide evidence that I had these traits as a child (despite my personal disclosure that I had). I was told that I had ADHD and autistic traits that did not meet the clinical threshold for that reason, if you add the „evidence during childhood“ I would have done. I’m in a position where I’m 99% certain that I have ADHD but the system won’t accept my word for having had difficulties concentrating and communicating at primary school. The older people are when they are tested the harder it is to provide evidence, so your diagnosis is barred.
I’ve been on a waiting list for 5 years to be assessed. Always struggled with what I thought was anxiety throughout my life. Went to my GP about it, did a brief test and said I had all the classical symptoms of ADHD and that the anxiety was a symptom of that. Can’t wait to finally be assessed and hopefully things make sense
as many others have said I and everyone that knows me will agree 100% that I have ADHD with some Autistic tendencies. I would love to be officially diagnosed and to receive correct medication but the long waiting list and the incredibly un-ADHD friendly the whole process is has just turned me off from it all. I find existing in this world stressful enough without jumping through all those hoops and writing pages of evidence that could all be for nothing in the end if I dont write the correct stuff
The 2 year waiting list for assessment/diagnosis is insane. If you are in the UK you can ask you GP for „right to choose“ which will get you a portal for private assessment/diagnosis on the NHS – Took me 4 months from referral to diagnosis. Just completed it this week. 100% worth looking into if you are on this waiting list.
Reading people’s experiences here makes me feel grateful that I live in Australia. I got diagnosed and prescribed vyvanse last Monday and ignoring the shitcunt ‘doctor’ who I first saw, the time from booking the first appointment with the second psychiatrist to getting diagnosed was 5 months and cost me I think about $650 out of pocket with Medicare rebates. I would have been willing to spend significantly more because I just couldn’t keep going as I was, and a multi-year waitlist was completely out of the question. Also thanks to more government subsidies a month’s supply costs me $7
the 5year+ waitlists combined with nhs gps not accepting private diagnosis doesn’t help
So it turns out that having a diagnostic process that takes years to wait for and is incredibly un-ADHD friendly to navigate actually produces less ADHD diagnoses.
I have been waiting about 4 years I think it is. There are some places that are about 7 years. There are some places that are (illigially I think) just stopping referrals altogether. And this is after the initial GP appointment where they said I “come out of the woodwork” and was really clear what I wanted. And I work in Social Care, there are people who will be way more vulnerable to the tactics which prevent it being progressed.
sometimes i think we got it rough here in the US lately but every week i hear some new dystopian headline from England
Given how restricted ADHD medications are in the EU and UK, I have to wonder how much benifit there is to getting diagnosed
I tried to access an assessment privately as NHS wait times are around three years where I live. I was quoted between £2k and £6k. I was on some sort of list pre-pandemic.
I tried to access an assessment privately as NHS wait times are around three years where I live. I was quoted between £2k and £6k. I was on some sort of list pre-pandemic.
The claim was that adhd symptoms just simply disappeared in adulthood. That, combined with the ridiculous navigation of the Healthcare system is why I lived with the disorder for so long. I did not even consider it despite the obvious evidence.
I went to the Dr in January and asked for an assessment. Just had it last week, 7 months is all it took
Once I was told that my anxiety issues may come from an undiagnosed ADHD that was never catched, because of my good grades in school. Is there something to back that statement up?
Yoo that picture is such a good representation of my head when it jumbles. That’s very much how my mental image sees my thought processes.
When everyone other person has a trait, is it still a symptom? Every third person? One in four…? Do we need to medicalise diversity?
We grew up in the „just get on with it“ attitude that plagued the 80s, 90s, and 00s in Britain (not just England). Most people never even thought of getting diagnosed, and the waiting times for a proper diagnosis are ridiculous unless you pay privately.
I feel like it’s super OVER diagnosed in the US… Or at least the criteria for diagnosis are far too lax/broad
I KNOW i have it. Trying to get a diagnosis it near impossible and i don´t want to / can´t pay fr private one´s that just make you tick boxes rather than actually try and under stand for a proper procress.