Adult ADHD – attention deficit hyperactivity disorder – is in the spotlight on social media as more grown-ups, and celebrities, admit to having it.
Interest is high: there are more than 190,000 Instagram posts with the hashtag #adultadhd. A YouTube video, “ADHD & How Anyone Can Improve Their Focus”, from popular American neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, has had more than 6.4 million views in the three years since it was posted.
Medical guidelines only formally recognised the disorder in adults in the early 2000s.
You might think it develops in grown-ups later in life. But this is not the case, says Dr Sally Cubbin, a neuropsychiatrist and founding member of UKAAN, the UK Adult ADHD Network. It runs one of the UK’s best recognised ADHD clinics, which focuses specifically on adults with the disorder.
Most children with ADHD become adults with ADHD, she says.