Use of ADHD medication in UK more than tripled in 13 years. UK had highest relative increase of five countries in study, with 20-fold rise in women over 25 using it. While it is true that not everyone with ADHD required medication, findings suggest a substantial proportion may not be doing so.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/21/adhd-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-medication-uk-study
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**Use of ADHD medication in UK more than tripled in 13 years**, study finds
**UK had highest relative increase of five countries in study, with 20-fold rise in proportion of women over 25 using it**
The proportion of people in the UK on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has tripled in the past decade, with a 20-fold increase among women aged 25 and over, a study shows.
Researchers led by the University of Oxford examined electronic health records from Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK to estimate the use of ADHD medication among adults and children aged three and above.
Prevalence increased across all five countries between 2010 and 2023, according to the research. The UK had the highest relative increase for all ages, rising more than threefold from 0.12% to 0.39%. In the Netherlands, prevalence more than doubled, from 0.67% to 1.56%.
The results of the study, which tracked methylphenidate, dexamphetamine, lisdexamfetamine, atomoxetine and guanfacine, was published in the Lancet Regional Health – Europe journal.
Adult use increased substantially in all countries, particularly among women. In the UK, prevalence among people aged 25 and over increased from 0.01% in 2010 to 0.20% in 2023, with a more than 20-fold increase in women and 15-fold in men.
Although ADHD medication use remained higher among males, the sex gap in treatment narrowed over time and with increasing age, the researchers said.
“We observed a consistent increase in ADHD medication use across Europe, but the most striking changes were among adults, especially women,” said Xintong Li, the lead study author at Oxford. “These findings likely reflect growing awareness and diagnosis of adult ADHD, but they also raise important questions about long-term treatment patterns and care needs.”
The results also suggested a much lower rate of ADHD medication use compared with the estimated rate of ADHD itself, which is thought to affect about 8% of children and adolescents and 3% of adults globally, the researchers said.
They said **while it was true that not everyone with ADHD required medication, the findings suggested a substantial proportion may not be doing so.**
Methylphenidate was the most commonly used medication across all countries. Newer treatments such as lisdexamfetamine and guanfacine showed steady uptake after market approval. However, continuation of treatment after initiation was relatively low, varying substantially between countries.
The findings reflected growing recognition of ADHD as a lifelong condition and highlighted the need for healthcare systems to plan for rising demand, particularly amid ongoing ADHD medication shortages in parts of Europe, the researchers said.
For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanepe/article/PIIS2666-7762(25)00348-5/fulltext
This stat probably gets read as “over-prescribing,” but I think it’s more complicated than that. A lot of adults (especially women) were completely missed for years, so some increase was inevitable and honestly overdue.
That said, medication isn’t a free win for everyone. I actually do have ADHD and chose not to stay on stimulants because, for me, the long term health risks and addiction potential outweighed the short term focus boost. Structure, exercise, sleep, therapy, and very boring routines get me most of the benefit without the downsides. But I understand others cannot function without it.
I also wonder how much my life would improve in the short term if I listened to these doctors.
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ADHD diagnosis in the 80’s was being that kid that did respond to a beating and was too young to be put in the army or work.
In the 90’s it was diagnosed with observations and the treatment was ostracism to a special asylum school or put to work.
In the 2000 diagnosis and treatment with medication became a thing,side effects were still scary, beating and ostracism were rightfully realised as excessive and counter productive. Medication was starting to show that a harder more focused worker could be produced with said person taking a pill.
2010 people that missed the early childhood diagnosis started to realise the beatings, arguments and lack of focus were inherent in the brain function. At the same time global stress was low enough that the struggle wasn’t hiding it. Medical practitioners were still gun-shy due to the previous ostracising fundamentals running in background with legacy practitioners.
2020 the old legacy practitioners have been slowly retiring, the medications are now well known. Diagnosis is now more well spread.
One would hope that by 2030 prescription should be a simple as seeing your local GP for a online based evaluation for a 60 day trial to see if it’s beneficial.
I have ADHD, and drugs were the only treatment I was permitted. When I said they weren’t working properly, I got discharged. They’re pushed hard over any alternative.
So, my post is purely anecdotal, but I am from the UK and was diagnosed within this timeframe in middle age.
Being diagnosed and medicated has significantly improved my quality of life on a day to day basis.
I hope that everyone who can benefit is given access to effective medication, and that moral judgement becomes something we can confine to the history books.
“People with a medical condition are receiving diagnosis and appropriate treatment for that condition!”
why is this news? its like saying that the use of inhalers has increased cause more people are getting accurately diagnosed with asthma… like yeah… that’s a good thing but I just KNOW that some people will see this as negative.
Can’t wait for people with no professional or personal experience in this field to share their negative opinions on it
I have very obvious, very serious, life-crippling ADHD. Now in my forties, I mostly suffer from inattentive symptoms, but had very severe hyperactive symptoms (as well as many common comorbidities like APD and some autism-spectrum symptoms such as crippling anxiety relating to sounds and textures).
I didn’t look anyone in the eye while talking to them until I was 25 and learned about that. I didn’t know body language even existed until in a bar at 23 a friend of mine doing psychology at university told me about it.
Not a single medical or child professional in the UK ever once suggested I may have ADHD. That huge increase is probably because it was MASSIVELY under-diagnosed for a very long time. If your rates are very low, then bringing them up to normal rates is going to be a large relative increase.
“While it is true that not everyone with ADHD required medication, findings suggest a substantial proportion may not be doing so”
Am I having a stroke or does this make absolutely no sense
Anecdotally, peddling various ADHD prescriptions at universities was a very common student activity across the south of UK, I wonder if it has any meaningful impact on the numbers.
There is a whole massive cohort of boomers and older gen X who went most of their lives with undiagnosed ADHD, and finally realized they had it when their kids were diagnosed and put on meds. So for every kid diagnosed, there’s probably a parent in a lot of cases. My dad and mom are both cartoonishly ADHD. they are like different people now with medication in their 50’s. It’s actually really wonderful to see.
I just saw a psychiatrist for an autism and ADHD assessment, as a 41 year old woman.
I waited 6 years for this appointment.
I was told that I had autistic and adhd traits, but they wouldn’t give me that diagnosis because I was somewhat functional: I finished high school (with a lot of difficulty, and then failed at trying university 3 times), and I managed to get jobs (never for longer than 2 years, with chronic unemployment, but yay, so functional!)
They finished by saying that they only gave medication in extreme cases, because it could give the patient high blood pressure. As an obese mess of a person that is already taking blood pressure medication, I would happily have taken that risk if it meant that I could finally feel closer to normal!
I live in Scotland, I don’t know if it’s any different in the rest of the UK, but from my sample of 1, they are rather stingy with their precious medication.
Thatll happen when you stop pretending that half the population can’t have a disorder.
I was lucky to be diagnosed as a child, and every single one of my diagnosed peers would have elaborate ways to avoid taking their medication. Anecdotal I know but I’ve worked in hospitality for a couple decades and this pattern keeps emerging to me.
Those same people like myself in adulthood avoid the medication even though we may admit we need it from time to time for things like study and crunch time at work.
Now we have got to an era where medication supplies are so scarce that those of us that need it cannot get it while those who are able to afford it over those that need it are taking it all for themselves.
I am also worried about heart problems people are causing themselves by getting onto these medications in middle age. One of my friends can no longer take them because of developing heart problems.
My final note is that while medication helps it’s a bandaid, and the best thing I’ve had for ADHD was behavioural therapy along with self autonomy in the form of an experimental group I was apart of as a child. Where a group of about 15 neuro divergents including Aspergers and Autistics would meet once a week and we would gradually have to see speech therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists that would hone in on things and create individualised exercises and home work for us to do. The socialisation helped greatly also.
At the core of all this is whether the individual wants to improve themselves. I have two brothers that deny their diagnosis and do nothing for themselves while myself and my sister are constantly looking for ways to improve. We aren’t fixed we are just more aware of our bad days/weeks/months/years and have action plans ready for when that happens. We want to be functional while our brothers want to be left alone with their addictions.
I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 8. I’ve read old reports where a doctor literally called me the “poster child” for ADHD. I was put on meds back then but stopped after about a year.
I barely passed every grade, was constantly in trouble for grades and impulsive behavior, and struggled a lot growing up. After high school I couldn’t keep a job, dealt with substance abuse, and my life was honestly a mess.
I started taking ADHD meds again at 26. I’m 39 now, and it completely changed my life. I’ve held the same six-figure job for six years, I’m married, and I can actually focus and function like a normal adult.
I do have occasional high blood pressure and I smoke cigarettes, but it’s manageable and monitored. Other than that, I couldn’t live without my medication. For me, it’s no different than someone with bad vision needing glasses — it doesn’t give me an advantage, it lets me function.
Honestly, good. I was diagnosed in late 2023 aged 28 and started my meds the following year. They have literally transformed my life. The more people who can get this, the better.
If literally everyone supposedly has ADHD, or atleast a majority of the population, then is that not the base human form and we are basically augmenting the standard human with drugs?
Im sure the drug companies love to overdiagnose everything they can.