Published: Less than 20 min ago
The moderates propose an ADHD test for all five-year-olds in marginalized areas.
The aim is for more people to be medicated and fewer people to end up in gang crime, Expressen states.
– I think it is a difficult path to follow. If such a test is to be effective, it must be done in all areas, says Lisa Thorell, who researches ADHD at the Karolinska Institutet.
The proposal comes from the Moderates in Stockholm: A rapid test for ADHD aimed at children in marginalized areas. Those who receive a result must then be offered a larger investigation, stated Expressen on Thursday evening.
Financial Regional Council Irene Svenonius says, according to the newspaper, that the tests should be done at BVC already at the age of five and then followed up on several occasions during schooling:
– The earlier measures can be put in place, the better the conditions.
According to Expressen’s article, the moderates refer to two surveys.
check The first comes from the Center for Epidemiology and Community Medicine in the Stockholm Region and was done in 2015. It shows, on the one hand, that “children who live in socioeconomically disadvantaged residential areas consume medication for ADHD to a greater extent than children who live in more well-off areas”.
But the report author also notes that “children with an immigrant background, especially those with roots in Africa, the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Asia, consume ADHD medication to a lesser extent than Swedish children, a relationship that seems to be reinforced by living in a residential area with a high concentration of foreign-born”.
check The second report comes from the Correctional Service and was written in 2013. It establishes a connection between ADHD in childhood and an increased risk of violent crime later in life.
Also wants to push the issue nationally
The Moderates’ legal policy spokesperson Johan Forssell is also chairman of the party’s Stockholm Federation. He tells Expressen:
– There is not a single reason why a person becomes a criminal, but in the country’s prisons there is a large representation of people with ADHD. We need to get into this field if we are serious about breaking new recruitment into the gangs.
According to Expressen, M believes that it can be decisive that more children are medicated.
– It could be, there are different types of treatment, says Johan Forssell to the newspaper.
According to the article, the proposal is to be decided in Stockholm, but M also wants to pursue the issue of ADHD tests nationally.
Press department: “No coercion”
Aftonbladet contacted the Moderates on Thursday evening to be able to ask questions about the proposal, but none of the responsible politicians were able to return.
However, press secretary Hanna Strömberg emphasizes in a text message that the ADHD tests must be voluntary.
“One thing that is good to know is that it is not about coercion,” she writes.
Docent doubtful: Difficult way to go
Lisa Thorell, docent in psychology at Karolinska Institutet, researches ADHD. She says on the one hand that underdiagnosis in immigrant groups is a known problem and that the connection between ADHD and violent crime is well documented.
But she is hesitant about the Moderates’ proposal to direct the test directly to children in marginalized areas.
– Screening for ADHD sounds like a good idea, but not just in marginalized areas but everywhere.
Why?
– I think it is a difficult path to follow. Parents in these areas will not have their children screened unless it applies to all. You feel singled out and not part of society.
According to Lisa Thorell, there is generally a greater stigma around mental illness in immigrant groups.
– This does not only apply to ADHD. It is very difficult in these areas. When the school wants to investigate, the parents say no. If it is to be effective, it must apply to everyone.
“Medicine no quick fix”
Lisa Thorell is therefore calling for greater coercive measures for the schools.
– We already have compulsory schooling. If the school thinks that an investigation needs to be carried out on the child, it is strange that the parents can oppose it. The school has a mission that all children should be able to reach the knowledge goals.
According to Lisa Thorell, adhd drugs are palliative in 70-80 percent of cases and can be given to school-aged children. But she warns against seeing medication as a “quick fix”.
– If more people with needs are identified, the schools need more resources to deal with these children. You can’t give medicine and that’s clear, it’s simplistic to believe that.
What measures are needed?
– It is often difficult for a class teacher to provide support in a good way. They work a lot with image support and divide the tasks into smaller parts. Then more special educators and school psychologists are needed, and we already have a shortage of that. In addition, a general increase in competence is needed among all teachers.
Lisa Thorell also questions how the childcare centers will be able to handle all the tests with existing staffing.
– You can call for more teachers and more police officers, but we don’t fill the training places that already exist. Then you have to get hold of it first.
The S criticism: “Out of touch with reality”
The social democratic opposition in Region Stockholm is critical of the M proposal. Ebba Östlin, municipal councilor in Botkyrka, shares, according to Expressen, Lisa Thorell’s objection to only testing for ADHD in certain areas. Instead, she calls for violence prevention measures, especially in schools, to break new recruitment into criminal gangs.
Östlin also tells the newspaper that she “is doubtful whether the Moderates really have insight” into the care they already provide:
– In Region Stockholm, they close down youth psychiatry and it takes almost a year to get a npf diagnosis. So the proposal feels rather unrealistic if you look at what the Moderates are doing today.