Big increase in adult ADHD cases

The number of people diagnosed with ADHD after the age of 20 has skyrocketed in recent years.

Last year, 920 adults were prescribed ADHD medication such as Ritalin. This is a 430-percent increase on 2016 when 173 adults were prescribed such medication.

“We have a huge backlog, and that’s the main reason for the massive increase in ADHD drug use,” says Tórmóður Stórá, the chief psychiatrist at the National Hospital’s psychiatric ward.

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Another key reason, according to health minister Margit Stórá, is that far more adults are now being referred for ADHD screening.

“Up to a few years ago, it was believed that only children could suffer from ADHD. But now we know that ADHD can persist into adulthood,” she explains.

“Today’s adults who grew up with ADHD were not screened when they were children because their problems were believed to be caused by something other than ADHD.”

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.