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The number of adults on ADHD medication in Denmark has almost doubled in six years

Ritzau/AFP/The Local
Ritzau/AFP/The Local - [email protected]
The number of adults on ADHD medication in Denmark has almost doubled in six years
(Photo by Christina Victoria Craft / Unsplash)

The number of people over the age of 18 in Denmark receiving medication for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has almost doubled from 2015 to 2021.

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In 2015, 26,000 people over the age of 18 received medication for ADHD, while in 2021, the figure increased to 51,000, the newspaper Politiken reports, based on figures it obtained from the Danish Health Data Authority.

Per Hove Thomsen, a professor of psychiatry at Aarhus University, says that all the adults who get diagnosed are born with ADHD and have thus lived with ADHD their whole lives without knowing it.

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"But today, there is an increased focus on the fact that ADHD is not something you grow out of, and therefore more adults are becoming aware that it (note: ADHD) may be what makes it difficult for them to cope with everyday life," he says.

Symptoms

ADHD symptoms for adults are, among others, difficulties in planning and completing tasks and large emotional fluctuations.

Especially in the past two years, the number of adults under medication has increased, and the increase is particularly large among 25 to 64-year-olds.

Two years ago, 19,000 people aged 25-44 were on ADHD medicine. The figure has now increased to over 26,000 people, which is an increase of approximately 40 percent. The increase is found among both men and women.

Despite the large increase in registered cases, there is still a notable number of unregistered cases. It is estimated that approximately 2.8 percent of the world's adult population meets the requirements for a diagnosis of ADHD.

If that is the case, around 135,000 adults in Denmark meet the criteria for the diagnosis. Attention deficit disorders put you at great risk of developing other mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

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