Understanding neurodiversity, how to get diagnosed and what it means for you - The Little Things

NZ Herald

29 Mar, 2024 04:00 PM4 mins to read

A lot of adult women are getting diagnosed with ADHD later in life as the condition becomes better understood. Photo / File

Forget concerns neurodivergence is being over-diagnosed – one local expert believes we are actually underestimating how many people out there have a neurodivergent condition.

Neurodiversity is an umbrella term used to refer to a variety of conditions associated with atypical brains and different ways of thinking and processing, such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), autism, anxiety and dyslexia and dyscalculia.

Growing awareness about these conditions has come with a sharp rise in diagnoses, particularly with ADHD, which was long seen as a condition that only impacted young boys.

Now, a lot of adult women are getting diagnosed later in life, as the medical community recognises the differences in how the condition presents between genders. It’s been helped by notable women sharing their own diagnoses, which locally has included Chlöe Swarbrick, Hayley Holt and Sonia Gray.

It has prompted some concerns that too many people are being diagnosed. But Anton Ashcroft, a registered psychologist and co-founder of DivergenThinking, told The Little Things podcast that international literature suggests quite the opposite.

“There’s an amazing professor in the UK called Dr Amanda Kirby, and she was saying that in the UK if you took all of the neurodiverse diagnoses together collectively, you would have probably about 20 per cent of the population that would be diagnosed with neurodiversity.

“But her assumption, and also mine too with the work that I do, is that you could probably double that. And there, therefore, there are an awful lot of people in society who are going about their everyday life thinking that their brain just is their brain and not realising that actually they are neurodiverse with a big N.”

Put into context, Ashcroft said you could see 40 people in a group of 100 that have some level of neurodiversity.

He said a big reason why neurodiversity is so underdiagnosed is because of a lack of resources.

“It’s very, it’s confined. Basically, if you want medication for ADHD, the only way currently to get medication is through a psychiatrist. And we’re trying to push at the moment, Australia is moving in this direction to try and help get greater access to medication, so a GP could do a diagnosis and then prescribe.

“There’s absolutely no reason why that can’t be the case. It’s one of the few drugs – Ritalin, Concerta or Dexamphetamine - where basically, you can tell in 40 minutes whether it’s going to make a difference or not. So you don’t have to take it for two weeks or three weeks. So in a sense, you could almost just go out into the hallway and take it.”

Speaking to hosts Francesca Rudkin and Louise Ayrey, Ashcroft said that the rise in creatives and celebrities coming forward with their diagnoses has helped remove the stigma associated with the condition, but acknowledged there is an element of it being “trendy” as more people are reading about it and associating some of their symptoms to it. It is not clear however if historic under-diagnosis is contributing to such a big surge in cases being reported now.

He said that autism is quite common as well, but has yet to have that same level of understanding and experience.

“There was a time when bipolar was the designer label because certain celebrities were coming out with bipolar, and autism is often associated with social awkwardness and a rigidity of thinking and literally, so the connotations are that the strengths are not as easily identifiable as the challenges.”

But Ashcroft believes the strengths are starting to be recognised.

“In America, in Australia, in the UK, a lot of organisations now are actively recruiting autistic brains because they can work much faster, they can learn much quicker, and they can maintain high levels of productivity for longer periods of time.”

Listen to the full episode of The Little Things for more on neurodivergence, including how to get diagnosed and why it’s not a handbrake at all to living a full life.

The Little Things is available on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. The series is hosted by broadcaster Francesca Rudkin and health researcher Louise Ayrey. New episodes are available every Saturday.