Prescriptions for ADHD medications are way up

The rate of prescriptions for ADHD medication has nearly tripled in Ontario and increasingly more women are being treated for the condition. This is according to a new study of 15 million people in Ontario. It found that between 2015 and 2024 there was a 170% increase in stimulant prescriptions. The largest increase over the nine-year period was among people ages 35 to 44. Women represented the largest increase, 434%. While prescriptions for men went up by 261%. You actually see that women have overtaken men as being more likely to be prescribed a stimulant in the last year. for all ages older than 18. And that was absolutely not what was going on even a couple of years ago. ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common disorders among young people. It can affect your ability to concentrate, your impulsivity and increase hyperactivity. And stimulants are usually the primary treatment. In 2024 specifically, the group with the highest number of prescriptions were boys between the ages of 10 and 14, followed by women between the ages of 18 to 24. For some, the medication can improve focus, help with work or school, and even with relationships. Some experts say the increases may reflect better awareness and recognition of ADHD in girls and women. What I'm seeing is that we're finally getting to that population, treating them well. at a rate that's beginning to approach treatment for men. Researchers don't know exactly what is driving the increase in prescriptions, but caution there could be a few other factors at play. How much of what we're seeing is progress towards better diagnosis and correcting undertreatment in these historically missed groups and how much of this is representing an over-diagnosis where we're exposing people to potential harms from stimulant medications. Where they're not going to get necessarily the benefits. And there can be side effects to these medications. An assessment of ADHD isn't just a 10-minute checkbox assessment. And you do want to see proper monitoring, especially people if they have heart conditions or serious mental disorders.