Today’s Managing Health Care Costs Number is 12%
Quartzposted an article earlier this week on the underdiagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in young women. The title: “Decades of failing to recognize ADHD in girls has created a “lost generation” of women.”
The article references a study this fall in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (Harvard Link) from a huge national survey of children’s health (over 190,000 children).
The author extensively quotes two psychologists who are prominent advocates for additional ADHD treatment – and notes that ADHD manifests differently in young women, with more disorganization and less disruptiveness.
I have no doubt that there are young women (and men) who benefit from ADHD diagnosis and treatment. But the uptick in diagnosis, coinciding with a huge pharmaceutical push to increase those on treatment, is a real concern. Some of those diagnosed with ADHD have biochemical disorders clearly helped by drug therapy. In other instances, we are likely medicalizing children who are on a normal spectrum. It’s hard to tell who is being overtreated, but by this survey 1 in 8 children are diagnosed with ADHD – 1 in 6 boys and 1 in 12 girls. It seems likely that we’re overtreating boys, as opposed to undertreating girls.
