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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nI recently read an article on how ADHD is underdiagnosed. I won\u2019t share the article or author, for obvious reasons. I\u2019m not interested in putting this guy in the line of fire. He\u2019s doing genuine work, with the goal of helping. And as <\/em>Michael from Passion Pit <\/em><\/a>recently stated, we can disagree with respect, especially if someone is genuinely trying to help those suffering. To be clear, I am not a psychiatrist nor a psychologist. I am a mental health counselor. This is the perspective from which I write.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The author said he would address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some of what he laid out made sense and is likely to be true. For instance, he stated ADHD is 74% heritable. I have no reason to doubt that. This places the heritability of ADHD almost as high as height (80%) and much higher than depression (35%-40%). He gave stats on stimulants, both the lack of findings that they are terrible for you and what happens when some don\u2019t take them. For the most part, I can understand and buy this. This still lines up with a recent article I read that states it is possible for ADHD to be real and true, but to also be overdiagnosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He continued with \u201cscience\u201d that \u201cproves\u201d ADHD is underdiagnosed. I was left wanting. For instance, he relied on Adderall to determine diagnose prevalence. He said that 41 million Adderall prescriptions were written in 2023, severly lower than those diagnosed. He stated that 8.8% of adults<\/em> had ADHD. Then linked a CDC report that showed that 8.8% of girls<\/em> between the ages of 3-17 had ADHD. The latest data we have on adults diagnosed with ADHD is 6%<\/a>, or 15.5M adults. There are approximately 31 million girls between the ages of 3-17 in America. 8.8% of that is 2.7 million. Let\u2019s take the 15% of boys diagnosed (which I highly question this validity), which is 5.4. million boys. Combine that with the 2.7 million girls, and the 15.5 million adults. That\u2019s 23.6 million people diagnosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, 41 million Adderall prescriptions is severely higher than diagnosis. But let\u2019s assume he means that the 41 million is total but that one person gets 12 prescriptions per year (as he alludes to in his piece), which is also doubtful because they write refills into the prescriptions, not new prescriptions. Then it\u2019s 3.4 million people of the 23.6 million diagnosed with ADHD who are taking Adderall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ok, that\u2019s lower. But this doesn\u2019t account for other medications used and behavioral treatment. And to suggest that behavioral treatment isn\u2019t enough is patently false, I can tell you from personal experience. So we\u2019re left wondering, is it one prescription, 4, 6, or 12 prescriptions? Most are 90-day refills. By that math, it would mean that almost half of those diagnosed with ADHD are taking Adderall. So that\u2019s \u201cseverly low?\u201d They all must<\/em><\/strong> be taking adderall to be considered normal?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But this is where it all takes a severe turn for me. He never addressed:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat I Can Agree On<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The Author\u2019s Diagnosis of Underdiagnosis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Supression of Science<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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