Why ADHD Has Skyrocketed (And Why The U.S. Isn’t Prepared To Handle It)

The rate of ADHD diagnoses has been rising in the U.S. for the past two decades, and experts hypothesize that social media and the pandemic may be a catalyst. More Americans are seeking out treatment for ADHD all at once, which is putting strain on an already stretched thin health-care system.

Stories about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, have been having a resurgence in the social media zeitgeist the past several years, and it may be leading more people to seek out diagnosis for the condition.

"A lot of my patients would hold up their phone to the camera and be like, 'Here's this video that I saw on TikTok and this is why I have ADHD,'" said Dr. Sasha Hamdani. She is a psychiatrist and ADHD specialist who also is a content creator about the condition with more than 800,000 followers on TikTok.

This influx in people seeking out treatment all at once can cause a problem of supply and demand.

"What I see in my practice is that we have a six-month waiting list to get in. And we're incredibly busy," Adler said. "Some of that's from the pandemic, but I think there's a general need for services at this point."

The CDC announced in October that there was a shortage of both the brand name and generic form of Adderall in the U.S.

Watch the video above to learn more about the rise in ADHD in the United States and whether the health-care system can handle the increase in demand.

Produced by: Charlotte Morabito
Edited by: Amy Marino
Graphics by: Mallory Brangan, Jason Reginato
Additional Camera by: Nathaniel Lee, Andrea Miller, Talia Kaplan
Supervising Producer: Lindsey Jacobson

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Why ADHD Has Skyrocketed (And Why The U.S. Isn’t Prepared To Handle It)