ADHD now affects 15.5 million adults in the U.S., a new CDC report says

Diagnosis of ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is increasing among adults in the United States

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 15.5 million adults had an ADHD diagnosis in 2023.

That’s about 6% of adults in the country, or one in 16.

About half of these diagnoses were made in adulthood.

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The agency collected this data from the National Center for Health Statistics Rapid Surveys System between October and November 2023.

The study also found that adults with ADHD were more likely to be 50 years old or younger (84.5% vs. 51.2%) and more likely to be of non-Hispanic ethnicity (70.4% vs. 61.4%).

People who earned less than the federal poverty level were also more likely to be diagnosed (22.1% vs. 12.3%), according to the CDC.

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About a third of adults with ADHD reported taking stimulant medications, but more than 71% said it was difficult to get a prescription.

About half of diagnosed adults reported ever using telemedicine to treat ADHD.

The CDC acknowledged that the study had some limitations.

Electronic devices and social media may be contributing to the rise in diagnoses, a psychotherapist said. (Marina Demidiuk)

“First, self-reports of ADHD diagnosis may be subject to recall and reporting biases and have not been validated against medical records,” the agency’s report said.

“Second, surveys using commercial online panels have low response rates and may underrepresent certain subpopulations, increasing the potential for nonresponse bias.”

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A third limitation is that the sociodemographic and geographic data were collected before the survey was conducted, which “may have influenced the demographic distribution of some variables such as age, education, household income and metropolitan status,” the report said.

A psychotherapist speaks out

Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., said a new patient comes in every week with concerns about ADHD.

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“There are certainly people who have been clearly diagnosed with ADHD and who need medication – but similar to the GLP-1 phenomenon, there is a shortage of medication because many people are using it off-label or don’t really need it,” he said Fox News Digital.

“The first line of treatment should be psychological and behavioral intervention.”

According to Alpert, there are also many patients who do not actually have the disorder but have self-diagnosed it through online research.

“This fits into a broader phenomenon in our country where we are over-medicated, over-diagnosed and, frankly, over-dependent on people like me,” he said.

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When it comes to treating ADHD and other mental health disorders, Alpert says, “the first line of treatment should be psychological and behavioral intervention – not necessarily medication, as these are not without side effects.”

About a third of adults with ADHD reported taking stimulant medications, but more than 71% said it was difficult to get a prescription. (iStock)

The psychotherapist also pointed out that electronic devices and social media may be contributing to the increase in diagnoses.

“The very nature of this is to provide stimulation through a device that keeps the brain continually busy – and in many people even overly busy,” Alpert warned.

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“This results in distractibility, disorganization, and inability to complete tasks, among other hallmarks of the diagnosis.”

“By making significant behavioral and lifestyle changes, one can begin to manage symptoms and bring about improvements, thereby reducing reliance on medication.”