Large differences in regional prescribing of ADHD medication

On Gotland and in Halland, the proportion of 5-19-year-olds receiving ADHD medication is the highest in the country.

There, more than 6 out of 100 children picked up medicine last year. In Jönköping and Västernorrland, the proportion is the lowest. There, less than 3 out of 100 children receive medicine. This is shown by TV4 Nyheterna’s review.

Professor Christopher Gillberg reacts to the large differences and believes that the causes should be investigated.

– This is a very serious problem. ADHD is one of our major public diseases, which we must treat, says Christopher Gillberg, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Gothenburg and university hospital chief physician at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

More training is required

Christopher Gillberg believes that one explanation for the large differences may be that doctors do not always have sufficient knowledge about ADHD and how it should be treated. And that it is about a principled attitude of doctors.

– Some are very positive about prescribing medicines and others very negative, he says.

According to Gillberg, more education is needed about ADHD among doctors, and how it should be treated.

– It is important to combine medicine with other measures, for example therapy, he says.

Everyday life has changed

Alicia Larsson lives in Hyltebruk in Halland, one of the places in the country that prescribes the highest proportion of medicines. She was prescribed medication when she was 14, just over five years ago. For her, it has made a huge difference in everyday life.

– Before, I couldn’t concentrate, but when I got the medicine, my teacher noticed that I started to know a lot of things, says Alicia.

She was tested on a number of national tests that she had not passed before, and managed to get C’s on all of them. An incredibly nice feeling, she says.

Shouldn’t matter where you live

Alicia’s mother, Maria Larsson, tells us that Alicia managed to achieve things they never thought possible before. From barely having any passing grades in elementary school, to having passed high school and now being a fully trained florist.

– This is about being able to change a person’s life. From succeeding to failing and perhaps starting to self-medicate and ending up in ostracism with drugs, crime and other things. Instead, you can get a life, an education and do what you want, she says.

– There should be no difference in which part of the country you live in.