In the 25-odd years I have been involved in ADHD, the question of excessive diagnoses has been raised periodically.

Trophim Laptev/UnsplashThis is, of course, a good thing; making sure that people who do not qualify to wear the badge aren´t draining away valuable resources and skewing the numbers.

In September of this year (2025), an international conference on preventing overdiagnosis was held at Oxford University. The conference looked at overdiagnosing, especially ‟its harms and impact on individuals’ health, on health care and the practice of medicine, and on society.” From Oxford University

I am inspired to write this article by a piece I found on Substack titled Sensible Medicine. Please read through the whole piece as I simplify the complex medical terminology at the end.

I have written a few times before on this topic because some people complained about the large increases in diagnoses of ADHD and autism. My point was then–and remains–that in the northern hemisphere countries, which are leaders in medical care, being concerned about overdiagnosing was pertinent. However, in countries that are still developing their medical care facilities, this is a fallacy. South Africa falls into this category.

When it comes to ADHD and autism, Sweden has the most comprehensive and accurate statistics. The information on which this article is based comes from large twin studies–one each for children and adults–looking to determine whether variable autistic-like-traits were a risk factor for ADHD and other mental conditions.

The results were conclusive. Even the lowest level of autistic-like-traits increased the risk for all other types of mental conditions.

What this means is that every child and adult who has autistic-like-traits, no matter how mild or insignificant, runs the risk of developing other mental conditions.

This is information that must be taken note of and acted upon.

Any mental health condition is serious enough, but this study adds another whole dimension to those of us who have them.

For those who want to read the Sensible Medicine article,  it has a lot more detail not relevant to this article. 

In the future, I will write more articles based on the many interesting points raised in this article. 

 Photograph by Trophim Laptev