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| Science & Technology |
| ADHD numbers climbing dramatically in the U.S., especially among women, says new study |
| 2023-04-06 |
| [FoxNews] Females have different ADHD symptoms than males, doctors say. The number of people diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is climbing steadily in the U.S. — especially among women, a new study found. While cases have risen across all age groups, the spike has been most significant among women. The share of females between the ages of 23 and 49 years of age diagnosed with the disorder nearly doubled from 2020 to 2022. To reach these findings, investigators from Epic Research, a health analytics firm based in Verona, Wisconsin, analyzed data from 3,389,383 patients who were diagnosed with ADHD between 2010 and 2022. Since 2010, the rates of ADHD have tripled overall, the study found — but the share of patients taking prescribed medications for the disorder has remained consistent. Males have historically been more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, but the study findings indicated that the gender gap has been closing over the past 12 years. "The ratio of males to females diagnosed with ADHD decreased nearly five-fold during that time, from males being 133% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than females in 2010 to 28% more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD in 2022," Epic Research stated in a discussion of the study findings. SYMPTOMS VARY BETWEEN FEMALES AND MALES Previous studies have shown that females with ADHD tend to have very different symptoms than males — which could prevent them from getting evaluated and diagnosed. "Data for ADHD tends to skew heavily toward school-age males," Dr. Joseph Galasso, a psychologist at Baker Street Behavioral Health in New Jersey, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview. He was not involved in the new study. Girls tend to "fly under the radar," as their symptoms tend to be internalized. "Boys tend to be more active, with overt behaviors that lead to earlier diagnoses." On the other hand, he said girls tend to "fly under the radar," as their symptoms tend to be internalized. Instead of hyperactivity, ADHD can look more like depression or anxiety in females, he added. Possible reasons for increase in ADHD among women Overall, women tend to receive ADHD diagnoses later in life, often during their 30s or 40s, as WebMD reported. This doesn’t surprise Dr. Galasso, who pointed out that the many stressors and demands of adult life could compel women to seek help. "As women begin careers, have children and juggle other pressures, it may become harder to maintain life with ADHD," he said. Additionally, ADHD may have been confused with other mental health challenges, resulting in many cases going undiagnosed until later in life. Symptoms of ADHD can mimic those of stress and anxiety. "They may come to realize that it hasn’t just been stress or anxiety they’ve been dealing with," said Dr. Galasso. Another factor that could contribute to the increase is that it’s easier to access a psychiatrist or psychologist to receive care, he said. Also, patients have become more informed about the disorder overall. "I have patients who come to my practice and have pretty much already diagnosed themselves," the doctor said. "They might have trouble concentrating at work, have memory problems or struggle to focus, or are just really stressed out. And they’ve done their research and have an idea that it could be ADHD." FUTURE STUDIES ARE NEEDED Dr. Jackie Gerhart, chief medical officer at Epic and a family medicine physician based in Wisconsin, said that in future studies, she would like to look at the mode of delivery of ADHD services — specifically, whether telehealth is associated with the number of new ADHD diagnoses and the share of patients who were prescribed medication. "Telehealth helps increase access to mental health care, so it’s possible that patients who didn’t previously have a diagnosis of ADHD were able to receive the diagnosis and care through expanded telehealth access," she told Fox News Digital. "It would be interesting to study whether telehealth services are used differently by male or female patients," she added. More than eight million American adults are thought to have ADHD, but some studies have shown that up to 80% of them are unaware they have the disorder, per WebMD. |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #13 Inclusion and equity, doncha know. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2023-04-06 17:03 |
| #12 School can be awfully boring. Abu especially when it's geared to the slowest learners. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2023-04-06 16:22 |
| #11 ^ Bored of education... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-04-06 15:44 |
| #10 ^ School can be awfully boring. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2023-04-06 15:44 |
| #9 My daughter was "diagnosed" with ADHD in the 3rd grade. She was and still is very smart and learns fast. I asked if there was an accelerated program she could enroll in. I was told there weren't any because they didn't want the children who didn't qualify to feel like they were dumb. They wanted me to treat her with ritalin. I felt like telling them where to go. She was just bored, not ADHD. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2023-04-06 15:31 |
| #8 I'm just too poor to pay attention... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-04-06 13:33 |
| #7 Attention deficit? Nothing like a good, old fashioned spanking to get a kid's attention. |
| Posted by: Abu Uluque 2023-04-06 13:31 |
| #6 I think weight loss pills. Or the "Hope for weight loss" pills. |
| Posted by: Penguin_of_the_Desert 2023-04-06 12:51 |
| #5 I see them at the hot beach bars here. "Hit the wall a while ago," as they say. Talking way too loud, braying like donkeys when they laugh. Way too many for them all to be real estate agents or winners in a big divorce. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-04-06 12:39 |
| #4 Middle age women anxious about the future who feel they lost a step. Sure are a lot of 30+s who act and dress like late teenagers. College students. Back when, I was given detail about which office to visit and how to play symptoms, if I so desired, to get Adderal. Nevermind, in the same municipality, the Designer Clinics the population could visit, for a small fee of course. We mentioned yesterday screen time changing thought patterns, and 'Teachers' have been pushing ADHD on boys for a while now. Teen girls, with their too much screen time worried about whether they are the subject to the latest anti-social media school gossip is about them. Think victim of mean girl bathroom social gossip club, but thousands of followers. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-04-06 12:19 |
| #3 Well, the end-goal of feminism is for women to be like men... And so if boys are getting ADHD, well, by gosh and by golly, girls have to have it, too! Equality!!! |
| Posted by: Tom 2023-04-06 11:41 |
| #2 I suspect half the people on Adderal are "start up entrepreneurs" whose business experience consists of reading last year's issues of Wired. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-04-06 11:03 |
| #1 The actual condition, or amount of pharmaceutical prescriptions? Seems there is a push to convince youngsters that they are autistic and need medication. And, obviously, edibles oils and gummies were going to make their way into school age kids even in illegal MJ states because no duh. Its like this perfect storm of medications all coming together to rogue wave the under 25s. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2023-04-06 10:30 |