After years of blogging, supporting others and doing what I can to win the battle against ADD, it is still very apparent that many people are very embarrassed to admit they have ADD. There are a lot of people out there who have it, so maybe it’s possible for people to take comfort in numbers.
When we look at the numbers, according to recent statistics published by The Health Center Attention deficit disorder affects approximately 5% of all children. Of children who have ADHD, many will still have it as adults. Several studies done in recent years estimate that on average….50% of children with ADD/ADHD continue to exhibit symptoms as an adult.
Let’s break these numbers down a little more. In North America there are an estimated 84 million children who are in the demographic of 17 years of age or younger. If approximately 5% of children have ADD, this is in the area of 4.2 million kids in North America. That is an awful lot of kids with ADD. Let’s now consider the two generations of adults out there in North America (18-35 and 36-52) that were part of the 50% average who continued to exhibit symptoms as an adult, after childhood. In North America, ages 18-35 there are approximately 70 million people (1.75 million with ADD) and ages 36-52 there are approximately 67 million people (1.67 million with ADD). Now, let’s add all this confusing information together:
Kids under the age of 17 with ADD 4.2 million + Adults 18-35 with ADD 1.75 million + Adults 36-52 with ADD 1.67 million = 7.62 million people with ADD in North America and let’s remember these numbers are considered to be conservative.
For anyone who feels that stigma associated with having ADD, is ashamed or doesn’t want to admit or acknowledge they have ADD……understanding just how wide spread this challenge is in North America should offer a feeling of comfort, in realizing this challenge is now part of the mainstream medical community.
The only thing that seems to be preventing ADD from being recognized and accepted on a broader scale, it the lack of funding and financial support it gets within our medical community. If you are an ADD’er or know anyone who is, it’s huge club with a lot of members now, so don’t feel alone.
that was really interesting…I am a little surprised about the 50% of adults still show symptoms because I was surprised the others stop showing symptoms? I guess because I had a late diagnosis I just assumed everyone had symptoms for the rest of their lives. Wonder if the shame issue has anything to do with that percentage…Anyway, thanks for posting this.