Landmark ADHD report expected imminently, at some point, probably quite soon

A major government review into ADHD has concluded, after two years of work by some of Britain’s leading clinical psychologists and psychiatrists, that ADHD is not being overdiagnosed.

The government has been meaning to publish the report for some time now, but kept getting distracted.

The review, commissioned by former health secretary Wes Streeting and led by Professor Peter Fonagy of University College London, was launched to examine soaring demand for ADHD assessments — the number of children waiting for one having risen from 21,000 in 2019 to 270,000 by the end of last year. The government first noticed the figures then couldn’t remember what they were assigned to, only to notice them again and commission a review that was never followed up.

The report is expected to find that the vast majority of those seeking a diagnosis are genuinely experiencing the challenges associated with the condition, a conclusion that will prove controversial among people who have not read it and will continue to be controversial once they have, because they will have moved on by then.

A government spokesperson confirmed the report would be published “shortly,” a word that has no clinical definition, does not appear in the diagnostic criteria for anything, and is, if we are being honest, doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

Header: kovalto1 / Shutterstock