A recent study has revealed a staggering 20-fold increase in adult women taking medication for Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Britain. This alarming trend has brought the condition back into the spotlight, with one mother, Lauren O’Carroll, sharing her personal journey and calling for greater understanding and support for ADHD families.
Lauren, a 41-year-old from Cambridge, was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 21 and has two children, aged 9 and 7, who have also been diagnosed with the condition. She explains how she initially learned to manage her ADHD, but the balance collapsed when her responsibilities increased and support decreased.
“From the outside, I looked successful: a good career, strong friendships, independence. Inside, everything relied on careful balance, but it was working. That balance collapsed when my responsibilities increased and support decreased,” Lauren recounts.
The study, conducted by Oxford University, examined medication prescriptions in several European countries, including the UK, between 2010 and 2023. The findings show that the UK had the highest relative increase in ADHD medication, with a more than 20-fold increase in adult females and a 15-fold increase in adult males over the age of 25.
Lauren’s own experience highlights the challenges faced by ADHD families. She had to stop taking her ADHD medication while undergoing fertility treatment, leading to a difficult period where she “swung between gentle parenting and sudden rage, exhausted and ashamed.” It wasn’t until she restarted her medication at the age of 37 that she gained the clarity to understand what was happening in her home and regulate her emotions better.
Recognising the need for better support, Lauren retrained as a parenting coach specialising in ADHD families. She emphasises the importance of early diagnosis, as her children had been stuck on NHS waiting lists before she paid privately for assessments. “Around 80% of ADHD diagnoses are still made in boys, yet we now know ADHD doesn’t disappear in girls – it simply goes unnoticed. Late diagnosis doesn’t just affect adults; it affects entire families,” she says.
The government has launched a national review into the rising demand for mental health, ADHD, and autism services, examining rates of diagnosis and NHS delays. However, there has been criticism from some politicians and experts who argue that ADHD is being overdiagnosed and that we are “medicalising” normal life struggles.
Campaigners fiercely refute these claims, insisting that the real problem lies in the NHS backlog in getting ADHD diagnoses and support for families in crisis. Lauren, who now runs Positively Parenting to help support ADHD families, believes that “diagnosis hasn’t labelled us. It has protected us. It has given us language, access to support and relief from the quiet parental gaslighting so many families endure.”
As the UK grapples with the soaring ADHD rates, Lauren’s story serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need for greater understanding, resources, and support for those affected by this condition.
