Although awareness and recognition of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) have increased over the past few decades, particularly through the pandemic years, its effects are still trivialized in the public discourse. The core symptoms are brushed off as stereotyped nuisances of flitting attention, bouncing legs, and misjudged spontaneity, and more exotic but similarly misleading characterizations and "look squirrel" memes that provide clickbait on social media. These misrepresentations create an image of an ADHD diagnosis as divorced from "real-life problems."
Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) includes a mix of ongoing challenges, such as having difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In the U.S., ADHD afflicts an estimated 7 million children, ages 3 to 17. According to one study, among American children, the prevalence of this diagnosis rose from 6.1 percent in 1997-1998 to 10.2 percent in 2015-2016.[1] Children with ADHD often struggle with low self-esteem, have troubled relationships, and demonstrate poor school performance. Symptom severity and frequency may lessen with age, and while some people never completely "outgrow" their ADHD symptoms, they can develop ways to live with them successfully.
I started building Simple in 2019 with a vision that one day, a digital product could help people fix their health as effectively as a human. Five years later, we turned this vision into a company with 160M in ARR, and a team of more than 150 people across multiple countries. If you only look at the highlights, my story can look like a straight line of an entrepreneur's journey.
An increased need for stimulation among ADHDers has led to a medical view that ADHD is a disorder. This medical view is that ADHD involves a deficit in attention, distractibility, daydreaming, procrastination, forgetfulness, disorganisation, restlessness, boredom, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation. However, the problem with this view is that neurotypicals can also experience these symptoms when they're under-stimulated, just like ADHDers.
How many times have you heard yourself say, "I'll do this later"? Or "I'll do this tomorrow"? The statement itself is harmless and promising all at the same time. That's what we call procrastination. It isn't relaxation but rather the pushing off of the discomfort of a decision, a conversation, a task, or a call into the future and hoping that "later" or "tomorrow" will somehow come with greater focus, energy, motivation, or time.
At the start of this year, I went back to contracting, and then I learned I had prostate cancer. It was stage one, and I was on active monitoring for six months. I did some more contracting up until July, when I was told I needed to have treatment. So, I had treatment, and all the signs were good. In August, I thought, 'OK, I can start looking to go back to work.'
Jennings's article focused on people using TikTok gain a more in-depth knowledge of ADHD. "Arguably no part of mental health TikTok is as omnipresent or as fraught as ADHD TikTok," Jennings wrote - and addressed one of the biggest challenges that arose from its prominence, namely: at what point does getting advice from an app overtake getting actual medical advice?
The increase in reported mental health problems and neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and services not keeping pace, reflect what many clinicians see every day people are in more distress and unable to access support. The suffering is not fake, nor is it a case of gen Z malingering. Patients are struggling with what were once ordinary demands of life: school, work, relationships and family, complicated by the aftermath of Covid, with blurred boundaries between home and work, and life lived increasingly on screens.
People with ADHD often face deficits in executive functions. Planning, organizing, or simply remembering to act upon certain responsibilities are some very common issues that make the day-to-day of individuals with ADHD more difficult. One notable environment in which this impacts life is the workplace. Deficits in executive functions tend to predict not only job performance but also burnout and stress levels.
December is here, which means as the year comes to a close, companies carefully curate a nostalgic rewind of the past year with experiences such as Spotify Wrapped or, in Apple's case, the release of the 2025 App Store Awards honorees. The awards are designed to showcase the best apps and games available on the Apple App Store during the past year, with Apple's App Store editors carefully selecting 17 apps from the nearly 2 million apps across various devices.
But now, top US health officials argue that diagnoses have spiralled out of control. In May, the Make America Healthy Again Commission - led by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr - said ADHD was part of a "crisis of overdiagnosis and overtreatment" and suggested that ADHD medications did not help children in the long term. So what, exactly, is going on?
As outlined in the recently published, NHS-England commissioned, Independent ADHD Taskforce Report, there is robust evidence that unsupported ADHD can lead to multiple adverse outcomes. 2 I was Chair of this Taskforce, but this work is now completed, so these blog posts are independent of that position. Despite the risk of adverse outcomes, we know that people with ADHD can and do thrive if they are offered early support and intervention.
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I've spent a lot of this year trying to perfect the art of leaving the house. This might sound like an odd mission until you've seen me spend 25 minutes getting distracted while looking for my wallet and sunnies, doubling back to grab my laptop, tripling back for my work pass, missing my train, arriving at my destination with 1% battery and only then realising the medication I was meant to take that morning is still sitting on the counter.
Specialist ADHD services for adults in England are stopping taking on new patients as they struggle to cope with demand, a BBC investigation has shown. The BBC has identified 15 local areas that have closed waiting lists and another 31 that have introduced tighter criteria, making it more difficult to access support. Reacting to our investigation, Prof Anita Thapar, chair of NHS England's ADHD taskforce, said the findings were "disturbing", adding there were "enormous risks" for patients.
Doctors feel disempowered and pressured and do not have the time they want to spend with patients. And anyone who goes to see doctors feels about the same as they try to advocate for themselves. At the national ADHD conference, for example, a theme arises: How can I even talk to my provider about my ADHD? ADHD is not a highly emphasized part of medical training-and it takes time to discuss the details. Rushed visits leave people struggling to communicate and feeling frustrated.
My daughter's father has some diagnosed mental health issues (and some that are not and probably never will be diagnosed). In terms of behavior, this looks like mood swings, shopping sprees, a lot of very elaborate plans that don't come to fruition, periods of inertia, struggling with basic upkeep in the home, and anger (never directed at her). Dear Trying, Officially, we have 50/50 custody, although in reality, I do most of the parenting.
