The Government’s Review into the Prevalence of Mental Health Conditions, Autism and ADHD and How It’s Being Reported

Why is it that news publications including the BBC which is meant to be impartial are allowed to publish headlines such as this when this is not at all what the review actually states?

Today the UK government has published their long awaited report into the prevalence of mental health conditions, autism and ADHD and it is being reported by outlets like the BBC that autism and ADHD are at risk of over-diagnosis, when what the report actually states is that autism and ADHD do not appear to be becoming more common. The review found that although diagnosis rates are increasing, the general prevalence of autism and ADHD in the population is "broadly stable". So we aren't over-diagnosing. We're just diagnosing those who have gone undiagnosed for so long, like women and girls, autistic people of colour and multiply marginalised autistic people. We aren't just diagnosing young white boys anymore. We're diagnosing lots of different people, so obviously there has been a massive increase.

The report also says that support should be needs-led, not diagnosis-led, which is incredibly important because at the moment diagnosis serves as such a barrier to accessing support. Even though things are meant to be needs-led, a diagnosis still acts as massive weight when applying for things like an EHCP, PIP or reasonable adjustments at work. So the government are saying that diagnosis "remains essential and must be protected" but it should no longer be the only route through which support can be accessed.

The government also says that they are going to improve oversight of ADHD and autism assessments and assessment services, regulating diagnostic assessments, reviewing the NICE Guidelines and protecting patients from substandard assessments, which is also incredibly important.

Don't necessarily trust the headlines that you read because they are clickbait and not necessarily true.

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