3 ms·

Anecdotally, I have heard French people say that it is practically impossible to get a adult psychiatric diagnosis of ADD in France, regardless of how clear and

Anecdotally, I have heard French people say that it is practically impossible to get a adult psychiatric diagnosis of ADD in France, regardless of how clear and debilitating your symptoms are. It may be that the apparent low rates in the EU are actually systemic diagnostic failures. (Similarly, I have read that in [I think] Japan, it is actually illegal to begin a course of ADD medication after 18--if you were diagnosed as a child, you're fine, but if your parents never took you to a psych, you're screwed forever. Even in the US I've had a general-practice doctor tell me that they thought ADD just went away after a certain age. There's a lot of denial about adult ADD.)

rdtsc 10y ago
Interesting. Wonder if it is cultural, and if there is any element of antagonism against US practices -- i.e. "we know US is pretty liberal with this diagnosis, we think it is rather wrong, so we'll just go the other way and deliberately shy away from diagnosing it as much as possible".
rtpg 10y ago
Even as a teen in France doctors basically brushed off the entire possibility of me having ADHD and just prescribed me a thing for drowsiness... despite having been treated for ADHD all through middle school with positive results. I have yet to succeed getting medication that works for me in Japan (crappy laws mean no Adderall for me), but there are adult ADHD support groups that list doctors willing to work with adults despite no prehistory.
jrapdx3 10y ago
ADHD has been in my field of practice for quite a long time. It's true that many countries have greater restrictions on treatment, and medications available in the US are not approved elsewhere. Cultural biases against recognizing the condition are common, but is greater in some countries than others. In this respect the US has been way ahead of most other places in terms of recognizing ADHD in adults and treating the condition. Even in the US, it still remains highly under-diagnosed and -treated, as its estimated only about 20% of cases ever come to clinical attention, and only a small proportion of those cases get proper and persistent treatment. Over the last decade or so the stigma against diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD has diminished, but remains a huge barrier for care of people with the difficulty. It's not a minor condition, in fact research shows ADHD has poor outcomes in all domains of functioning. IOW ADHD is frequently associated with lifetime disability which is usually reduced with appropriate treatment.

rdtsc 10y ago

Interesting. Wonder if it is cultural, and if there is any element of antagonism against US practices -- i.e. "we know US is pretty liberal with this diagnosis, we think it is rather wrong, so we'll just go the other way and deliberately shy away from diagnosing it as much as possible".

rtpg 10y ago

Even as a teen in France doctors basically brushed off the entire possibility of me having ADHD and just prescribed me a thing for drowsiness... despite having been treated for ADHD all through middle school with positive results. I have yet to succeed getting medication that works for me in Japan (crappy laws mean no Adderall for me), but there are adult ADHD support groups that list doctors willing to work with adults despite no prehistory.

jrapdx3 10y ago

ADHD has been in my field of practice for quite a long time. It's true that many countries have greater restrictions on treatment, and medications available in the US are not approved elsewhere. Cultural biases against recognizing the condition are common, but is greater in some countries than others. In this respect the US has been way ahead of most other places in terms of recognizing ADHD in adults and treating the condition. Even in the US, it still remains highly under-diagnosed and -treated, as its estimated only about 20% of cases ever come to clinical attention, and only a small proportion of those cases get proper and persistent treatment. Over the last decade or so the stigma against diagnosis and treatment of adult ADHD has diminished, but remains a huge barrier for care of people with the difficulty. It's not a minor condition, in fact research shows ADHD has poor outcomes in all domains of functioning. IOW ADHD is frequently associated with lifetime disability which is usually reduced with appropriate treatment.