ADHD experts debunk Labour’s ‘overdiagnosis’ myth

A team of 32 experts has published a paper proving there is no evidence that ADHD is overdiagnosed — a big fuck you to the Labour government pedalling this dangerous lie.

Government departments unite against disabled people

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched reviews into the strain of ‘overdiagnosis’ of neurodivergent and mental health conditions has on the NHS.

Meanwhile, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is in the process of reforming PIP. One of the main things the disability benefits cuts protests stopped last year was them limiting eligibility. This would’ve especially affected people with conditions such as ADHD. Streeting’s reviews would give them the ammunition to do that.

And it’s not just those departments that are ramping up hatred. Prime Minister Kier Starmer has also stated that there’s a “moral case” for changing PIP eligibility. Moreover, I don’t think we should be taking morality lessons from those enabling genocide.

Experts debunk overdiagnosis myth

With the media complicit in benefits hate, it’s so important that medical experts are standing up and proving the government to be liars.

32 experts came together to publish ADHD (over) diagnosis: fiction, fashion and failure in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The report overwhelmingly rules that

There is no evidence that ADHD is over-diagnosed in the UK

The authors state that, in fact, just 5.4% of children and 3.3% of adults are estimated to have ADHD. They also explain that while health records do show a rise in diagnosis between 2000 and 2018, it is nowhere near what it should be.

While the administrative prevalence of ADHD has increased over time, available pre-pandemic data suggest that it has remained substantially below the ADHD population prevalence in the UK, providing no evidence at present that ADHD is over-diagnosed at a population level.

They said this increase in diagnoses could be because more people know about ADHD than in the past. In the last few years, for instance, far more older women have discovered they have ADHD. This was missed in childhood.

Labour’s lies are a barrier to ADHD diagnosis

The report states that, if anything, it’s still massively underdiagnosed, largely because the NHS isn’t funded enough to support people with ADHD.

Beyond the controversy around over- or under-diagnosis and over-medicalisation of ordinary behaviours or emotions, the main issue is that UK clinical services cannot adequately support individuals with ADHD who need help.

It also skewered the pervasive narrative that ADHD is overdiagnosed, coming from the media and politicians

There is a risk that the narrative claiming ‘ADHD is over-diagnosed’ could be used to deny people with properly-diagnosed ADHD the care they deserve.

Which, funnily enough, is exactly what Labour plans to do.

It’s clear to see that Labour doesn’t actually care if ADHD actually is overdiagnosed; they just want to strip disabled people of vital support. But hopefully, with the overwhelming evidence against them, they will be called on their bullshit.

Featured image via the Canary