Re:Overselling A.D.H.D.
by Broken_Hippo on Tuesday August 23, 2016 @01:34PM
(#12345597)
Part of the issue with adults getting treatment could be down to a combination of a belief that folks grow out of it and insurance - unless that has changed. My brother was diagnosed with ADHD as a child. The medication that worked for him wouldn't have been covered by insurance after he was 18, from what I understood. I don't know exactly why this was (I'm 11 years older, so missed some of the discussion), but if similar things are true there might be folks that simply cannot get their meds, if they know about them.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
In general longitudinal studies demonstrate that hyperactive symptoms typically attenuate by early adulthood, but inattention is much more likely to persist. Reports vary somewhat, but around 1/2 of childhood cases remain diagnosable as adults, and a greater proportion, ~2/3 have persistent characteristic manifestations that adversely affect functioning.
Getting treatment as an adult has become much easier in the last 10 to 20 years. Those of us in the "front lines" have pushed the cause and now it's seldom a problem, except to the extent health care coverage is a problem in general, but that's another issue.
As a generic guess, if your brother still needed treatment when he was 18 or 19 years old, there's a chance he would have persistent functional difficulties, and if so, treatment could be useful. As always adequate assessment is necessary to know what's needed.