'We need to talk more about this': Being diagnosed at 25 with ADHD 

DHD affects parts of the brain controlling attention, impulses, and concentration, so many people who had not realised they have this condition were suddenly challenged in getting through their day. Picture: iStock

A women who was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 25 has told of how she felt relieved after getting the diagnosis, and believes we need to talk much more about adults with ADHD.

Abbie Robinson was working on her PhD last year which coincidentally was on this condition, but said during the research various issues began to resonate with her.

“It puts a lot into perspective, because you look at the behaviours I had been doing for 25 years and instead of being ‘that’s just the way I am ‘ I thought ‘oh that could have been undiagnosed ADHD’,” she told a conference on adult ADHD in Dublin on Tuesday. 

She added: “Getting diagnosed as an adult puts all that in perspective, and you give yourself that leniency and kindness to just let yourself be yourself.” 

She opted for private diagnosis due to the long waiting lists for public adult ADHD clinics but points out this may not be open to everyone.

There were long waiting lists after the pandemic, and if I were to hop on those waiting lists I would be done my PhD by the time I got seen.

She urged any young adults concerned they may have this condition to contact ADHD Ireland where free support are available.

“I believe we do need to talk about this more because it is such an issue for a lot of people,” she said.

HSE National Clinical Lead for Adult ADHD Margo Wrigley said there are five fully functional adult ADHD teams and they now receive referrals “far in excess of the numbers predicted pre-pandemic”.

One reason for what she called “ a pandemic phenomenon” was the removal of work or study structures during the lockdowns.

Abbie Robinson was working on her PhD on ADHD last year, and said during the research various issues began to resonate with her.

ADHD affects parts of the brain controlling attention, impulses, and concentration, so many people who had not realised they have this condition were suddenly challenged in getting through their day.

“There has been a high number of referrals post-pandemic with waiting lists within our existing services of up to four years in December, and they’ve grown obviously since then,” she said.

At least one team has now stopped accepting GP referrals, she said. She warned there is now “a back-log accruing over many years of people who should have been going for assessment and weren’t.” 

These pressures are exacerbated by the HSE recruitment freeze which means staff vacancies cannot be filled leading to further back-logs, she said.

She has raised these concerns with the HSE group lead for mental health, telling him in December: “the whole thing is going to collapse unless we look at how we are going to address this.” 

A new pathway is now being developed following work with people living with this condition in focus groups through ADHD Ireland.

The 3-day conference is hosted by ADHD Ireland with representatives from Greece, Cyprus, and the UK sharing experiences online or in-person sessions.

ADHD Ireland CEO Ken Kilbride said they are launching a new booklet 'Good Practice Guidelines for Adults with ADHD' arising from international collaboration through this EU Erasmus + Project.