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Adult ADHD: A 21st century epidemic? www.medicalnewstoday.com | Written by Dr. James Brown and Dr. Alex Conner
function.” These are the higher thinking skills, such as planning, task management, cognitive inhibition, and working memory. Although often seen as a “new” disorder predominantly seen in children, ADHD was first described in medical texts dating back to the 18th century. And although it is usually diagnosed during childhood, most people continue to live with ADHD for their entire adult lives. National Teaching Fellow Dr. Conner is a reader in biomedical science communication at the College of Medical and Dental Sciences at the University of Birmingham, U.K. Dr. Brown is a reader in biomedical science at the College of Health and Life Sciences at Aston University, U.K.
ADHD in adults Recently, a growing number of people are first reporting ADHD symptoms as adults, partly due to high-profile cases or the impact of social media.
In fact, somewhere around 2.8%of adults are thought to Together, they co-founded the charity ADHDadultUK in live with ADHD, with the vast majority of these being un2021 to improve the lives of adults with ADHD through diagnosed. psychoeducation, advocacy, and peer support.
What is ADHD?
Despite this growing awareness, issues with healthcare resources, poor understanding among healthcare profesADHD is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder in which sionals, and stigma around the disorder mean many adults the brain grows differently. This leads to deficient action struggle to get a diagnosis. from the chemicals involved in pleasure and reward. The neurological basis for the disorder means ADHD The name ADHD is a little unhelpful as those with the brains often search for ways to stimulate the chemicals that disorder do not have a deficit of attention, more a lack of have deficient action, which is why those with the disorder ability to control what they pay attention to. Even the hycan experience some or all of the core traits: inattentiveperactivity part isn’t always obvious, at least externally. ness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. ADHD is commonly associatedwith issues with “executive
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TT 140 | FEB 15th- 21st | 2022
