A significant number of adults with unresolved
depression, anxiety or addiction may actually have Attention
Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a condition that has been
widely considered to resolve in late adolescence.
Armed with the correct diagnosis, adult ADHD
sufferers could soon be prescribed Ritalin-style stimulant
medications for a range of mental health problems that are not
usually associated with the disorder, the Royal College of
Psychiatrists’ annual meeting was told today (Friday 4
July).
Stimulant medication is currently only
licensed for children with ADHD. However, the National
Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is expected to
recommend that this class of drug can be prescribed adults with
ADHD in September 2008 – following the recognition that the
condition persists into adulthood in about 20 per cent of cases
diagnosed in childhood.
But while ADHD symptoms in children include
inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, the condition in
adults is associated with a much wider range of co-existing mental
health problems.
Professor Phillip Asherson, professor of
molecular psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, told the
meeting: “Most frequently, adults with ADHD are diagnosed
with chronic and persistent depression and anxiety,
difficult-to-treat alcohol and drug addiction and personality
disorders.
“We don’t yet know whether these co-existing
disorders are separate problems or whether these people are
actually suffering from a form of ADHD that is presenting in
a different way from the normal symptoms. It could be that many
people are being diagnosed as having a separate disorder when in
fact they have got ADHD.”
Currently, clinicians are wary of using
stimulant medication in adults, as the only group of drugs that are
licensed only for use in children. However, Professor Asherson
said: “This is likely to change once the new NICE guidelines are
launched in September.”
Meanwhile, Professor Asherson is about to
embark on a major study to identify adults with ADHD who present in
GP surgeries and addiction centres. “We have no idea as yet whether
these problems will respond to stimulant medication. If they do,
then this type of drug could provide effective treatment for a
significant number of adults who currently have unresolved mental
health problems,” he said.
For further information, please contact Liz Fox or Deborah
Hart in the Communications Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
The Annual Meeting of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Imperial College, London, 1 – 4 July 2008