THE NUANCE

What Explains the ADHD Explosion?

More kids are being diagnosed than ever before. Why?

Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash

During the roughly 20-year period stretching from 1997–98 to 2015–16, the number of American kids diagnosed with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder increased by nearly 70%. County-level estimates have found that in many parts of the country, close to 1-in-5 children are now diagnosed with the condition.

“In some southern states, 30% of all boys are getting diagnosed with ADHD, which is crazy,” says Stephen Hinshaw, PhD, an ADHD specialist and distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. “In those places, we know that many kids are getting medications that don’t need them.”

In recent years, there’s also been a steep rise in the number of American adults receiving a first-time ADHD diagnosis. “The fastest-growing market for ADHD medications is in adults, especially women,” Hinshaw says.

Some have argued that ADHD is a manufactured condition — a non-disorder “disorder” created in part to help the pharmaceutical industry sell more drugs.

Among all mental disorders, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder may be the…