Statistics Provide A Changing Picture

Written by Dave Pughe-Parry Dave Pughe-Parry

Parent Category: ADHD Articles ADHD Articles

Last Updated: 22 October 2018 22 October 2018

Have you ever thought that ADHD has become an epidemic?

I often hear people say that there simply too many children being diagnosed with the condition. So why do people say these things? Here are a few reasons.

When you realise that you are living alongside ADHD, you start to to meet other people who have the same circumstances as you. Of course as a parent with a child who has ADHD, you will now start to meet adults with the condition. This often starts with your family; 4 out of 5 children with ADHD have at least one parent with the condition!

All of a sudden, your world seems to be filled with ADHD! You can’t seem to avoid it, they’re at school, at work, in the sports club, at the bridge club, in the fire brigade, on the radio, on the TV, in the rock-n-roll bands, they are everywhere!You read more and watch more about it. Today’s “connected” world makes your village or suburb minuscule, you are now living in a global village of people who live alongside ADHD.

That perception is not an illusion. In countries where statistics are generated and kept, such as the USA and Scandinavia, the numbers are pretty consistent, even the increases are consistent.

Way back in 2011, the authoritative CDC (Centres For Disease Control) issued a report that revealed some interesting figures. The report was the result of the National Health Interview Survey conducted from 1998 - 2009. Here are some the highlights:

In 1998 an average of 6.9% of children aged 5 - 17 were diagnosed, while in 2009, the average rose to 9%

Amongst boys, the incidence rose from 9.9% to 12.3%

Amongst girls the figures were significantly less; 3.6% to 5.5%

The reason for the difference between male and female is understandable in that girls have predominantly the Inattentive Type of ADHD. This type do not present the typical physical hyperactive symptoms, hardly ever interrupt the class, are in fact reserved, they daydream a lot.

Girls with ADHD are simply not getting noticed, they are frequently slipping through the cracks. We can see this in the growing number of adult women getting diagnosed.

It is a fact too, that not all the boys who have ADHD are getting picked up either.

Th real figures of children who can be diagnosed with ADHD are probably between 13% and 18%.

So a in a classroom of 20 children, between 2 and 4 children could have ADHD. The same applies to any group of people, on a plane, a bus, in an office, in a sport stadium, any group of people.