A large misconception about ADHD is that: it isn’t real. It’s just an excuse for someone who can’t sit still, or who can’t focus. There’s nothing wrong with them.

Well, we’re here to disprove that. And the best way to start is just to show you some simple numbers about people with ADHD.

Though it’s a tiny country, some 5% of the child population in Singapore have been diagnosed with ADHD . That number may seem small, but it’s around 270,000 children who have ADHD.

Around the world, that number increases to 6.1 million children who have had ADHD, as of 2016. Still not convinced? Let’s break that data down a little more.

388,000 children from the ages of 2-5 years were diagnosed with ADHD. That number increases to 2.4 million, to the ages of 6-11 years, and to a staggering 3.3 million children from 12-17.

ADHD is also not just a children’s disorder. In many cases, children carry this disorder on to their adult lives. In fact, 4.4% of adults in the US have this disorder, and that’s only the people who seek a diagnosis.

So how many people even have ADHD in Singapore anyways?

Turns out about 17% of children have ADHD and though no studies on how many adults have ADHD in Singapore, but research overseas shows that about half of children with ADHD continue to meet criteria for ADHD as they age.

What about adults?

The estimated crude prevalence rate of current ADHD in Singapore was 5.8%. Adult ADHD was significantly associated with lower age, low educational level, unemployment, marital status (never married and divorced), and rural residency. The worldwide prevalence of people with ADHD was at between 5.29% and 7.1% in children and adolescents and at 3.4% (range 1.2–7.3%) in adults.

But its not the number of people with ADHD that is the issue. If it’s treated properly from a young age, symptoms of ADHD can be managed. Treatment for ADHD in clinics is being improved and criteria for proper treatment is already in place. ADHD only becomes an issue when it isn’t treated and the root cause of that is if children don’t tell anyone about their disorder or if the people they tell, shun them and and encourage these children not to seek treatment.

It would be great if everyone was brave enough to tell someone that they have a stigmatized mental disorder but sadly that isn’t the case. From a study done in 2008, turns out according to parent reports, there were higher rates of children internalising problems (12.2 percent) compared to externalising problems (4.9 percent).

Only about a third of children recover completely. Another third learn to cope with ADHD while the rest get worse if the condition is not identified.
Doctors estimate that 3 to 5 per cent of children here have ADHD. This means that at least 1,500 children in every cohort have the condition, with two-thirds remaining undiagnosed.

We hope that now you’re more clear about people with ADHD. Click on to the next post to find out about more misconceptions people have about ADHD!