Why wouldn’t it suggest that Europe has a very high underdiagnosis rate?
Exactly what I thought when I read the argument in question.
If the studies referenced in the back of Hallowell are to be believed the prevalence of ADHD has been found to between 5% and 8% across 5 continents.
To paraphrase a FAQ in the same source: Is ADHD over-diagnosed or under-diagnosed? Unfortunately, both. In some regions it is over-diagnosed and over-medicated but in others it is underdiagnosed because people (teachers, parents or doctors) “don’t believe in ADHD”.
Good point; mental disorders are much more blurry. I’m curious, for instance, if there is an ADHD spectrum, like the autism spectrum
Very much a spectrum, in a similar way to an autism spectrum. In fact, a majority of people who qualify for an autism diagnosis would qualify for an ADHD diagnosis too if they didn’t have the autism label already.
, and if it blends into normality, or if there is a sharp divide between NTs and people with some degree of ADHD.
There is no sharp divide. There are also many people who have ADHD traits in the extreme who would not be said to have ADHD because their personality (and brain functioning in general) is not interfering with their life. So roughly speaking ADHD means having a certain cluster of traits to a significant degree greater than average or in a way that obviously interferes with your life.
Exactly what I thought when I read the argument in question.
If the studies referenced in the back of Hallowell are to be believed the prevalence of ADHD has been found to between 5% and 8% across 5 continents.
To paraphrase a FAQ in the same source: Is ADHD over-diagnosed or under-diagnosed? Unfortunately, both. In some regions it is over-diagnosed and over-medicated but in others it is underdiagnosed because people (teachers, parents or doctors) “don’t believe in ADHD”.
Very much a spectrum, in a similar way to an autism spectrum. In fact, a majority of people who qualify for an autism diagnosis would qualify for an ADHD diagnosis too if they didn’t have the autism label already.
There is no sharp divide. There are also many people who have ADHD traits in the extreme who would not be said to have ADHD because their personality (and brain functioning in general) is not interfering with their life. So roughly speaking ADHD means having a certain cluster of traits to a significant degree greater than average or in a way that obviously interferes with your life.