ADHD in the UK: The State of Play in 2025 – Diagnosis In 2025, ADHD is receiving more attention in the UK than ever before, with referrals and diagnoses rising sharply over the past decade. By June 2025, there were 668,370 open referrals for a possible ADHD diagnosis across mental health and community services in England. Within that same month, more than 18,000 new referrals were made, reflecting the scale of demand. Despite this surge, experts agree that the actual prevalence of ADHD has not increased—what has changed is recognition, awareness, and access to diagnosis. Several factors explain this rise in demand. Social media platforms like TikTok have amplified discussions of neurodivergence, encouraging people to recognise traits in themselves and seek help. Adults, especially women whose symptoms often went unrecognised in childhood, are increasingly receiving first-time diagnoses. Better training for healthcare professionals and broader assessment criteria have also helped capture cases that would have previously gone unnoticed. The validation provided by a diagnosis has been life-changing for many adults who have been struggling with feelings of inadequacy brought on by not realising their own neurodiversity. How many people in the UK have been diagnosed with ADHD? There are a significant number of people with ADHD in Britain. As of May 2025, it is thought that an estimated 2.5 million people have ADHD, including both those with and without a formal diagnosis. A UCL study found that between 2000 and 2018, diagnoses increased twentyfold, with the relative rise being highest among adults. Adult diagnosis reflects a cultural shift in how ADHD is understood; no longer viewed solely as a childhood condition, it is now accepted as a lifelong difference affecting people across all ages. The challenges for services like the NHS However, the growing recognition of ADHD brings serious challenges. NHS services are not set up to meet this new level of demand, with around 549,000 people waiting for an adult ADHD assessment in March 2025. Many wait years for a diagnosis, leading to frustration and misery by leaving people without the support or treatment they need. The situation was further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disrupted services and exacerbated symptoms for many. The popularity of ADHD content online has brought greater acceptance and reduced stigma, but it has also led to some misunderstandings about symptoms and treatment. Generally speaking, the rise in awareness of ADHD is positive; however, there is still much to do to get help to the people who most need it. Some of the options available for diagnosis and treatment The Right to Choose scheme has sought to address some of the rising demand for ADHD diagnoses by allowing people to get NHS funding to register with a private provider. However, over the past five years, this system has also struggled to keep pace with the rise in referrals, exacerbated in part by medication shortages, which have created bottlenecks in moving people onto prescriptions. Although there are medication options available for some, other options such as talking therapies (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy), programmes helpful for ADHD like those for Sleep, Rumination, or Mindfulness are only available through the NHS in certain areas, and are woefully underfunded, only reaching a minute proportion of those who would benefit every year. There are, however, some other positives. The field of ADHD coaching has grown immensely in the past 10 or 15 years, with many more well-trained coaches offering a variety of ADHD coaching, support, and education specialisms for both children and adults. These can form a vital part of a multi–modal intervention plan, both at home and in workplaces or educational settings. Towards the future There is hope that AI tools will lead to faster and cheaper diagnoses, and some tests have already been trialled nationally and approved for use by the NHS, such as the QbTest, which aims to speed up diagnosis for children. There is, as yet, nothing similar for adults, although various hybrid models that use AI for clinical support appear promising. Ultimately, the surge in demand highlights the urgent need for expanded specialist services to ensure timely, accurate, and supportive care for those with ADHD in the UK. I’d love to know what your own experiences have been with either NHS or private services: please get in touch with me at  Further reading:  NICE Guidelines NHS “Right to Choose” Information on diagnosis pathways

 

Review of A Pocket Guide to Neurodiversity by Daniel Aherne

Overview

This book is as described in the title – a pocket guide to Neurodiversity. It is a compact and readable book on the subject.

Authors

The author of this book, Daniel Aherne, runs a company that provides training and consultancy to global businesses to help them better understand neurodivergent employees. They cover things like the recruitment process to make it as inclusive as possible and management training so managers can better support and retain neurodivergent employees. Adjustservices.co.uk/about

Tim Stringer is the illustrator, who provides touches of humour and insight in his visually appealing illustrations.

Author background

As a teenager, the author Daniel Aherne started volunteering with an autistic boy, which led him to develop a passion for helping those with autism. He then worked at NAS (National Autistic Society), assisting autistic adults to access employment and volunteering opportunities.

Daniel Aherne was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult.(He states in his introduction that the idea for the book came from a talk on neurodiversity that he gave to Jessica Kingsley Publishers.)

Audience

According to one review, this book is “addressed primarily to people in managerial positions. In a broader sense, it should appeal to all staff members who would like to understand their neurodivergent colleagues and support them by adapting the work environment to their needs.” – review on www.consilium.europa.eu/en/documents-publications/library/library-blog/posts/the-pocket-guide-to-neurodiversity-by-daniel-aherne-and-tim-stringer/

This book is for anyone wanting to understand neurodiversity and support neurodivergent people. It is aimed mainly at the workplace, and includes  schools and communities. The author sets out to help us celebrate neurodivergence and foster more inclusive communities.  Parents, teachers, school teaching assistants, neurotypical workplace colleagues, people running youth groups, social workers would gain a good grounding from reading this book.

Subject and Structure of the Book

This book gives an introduction to neurodiversity and the four most commonly diagnosed neurodivergent identities:  autism, ADHD, dyslexia and dyspraxia. 

The book’s chapters cover Neurodiversity, Neurotypes, Processing, Working Memory, Communication, Unwritten rules, Emotions and Problem-solving.

There are summarized Key Takeaways and Reflection Points.  Some chapters also have a Helpful Adaptations section. There are lots of tips and reflection points to get the reader engaging with the material.

What are my favourite parts of the book?

I liked the chapters on communication and unwritten rules. These are topics that often come up in the course of my coaching neurodiverse people with Autism, AuDHD, or ADHD.

There were some helpful pointers for people who aren’t at all familiar with what neurodivergence means. Giving examples of how it can show up in different individuals is useful, for instance. The book indicates how to expect/allow for differences. It mentions differences in eye contact, processing speed, small talk versus more meaningful topics of conversation, and unwritten social rules for example.

This book proposes that adjustments for neurodivergence can actually be helpful for everyone. This is not a new proposition, however in my opinion it bears being repeated as many times as necessary to bring about the change needed to bring this into reality. For example, being more direct to make your meaning more straightforward and less ambiguous is a minor adjustment that can make a big difference in many settings.

Sense of Humour

I’m always delighted when an author shows me they have a sense of humour. Laughing at something gives me various things: good feelings, the perception that I can relax, an insight gained into something, or a new perspective or way of looking at something.

I am also more likely to pay better attention to what comes afterwards as if my brain hopes there will be more moments of interesting stimulation/good feelings.

I found some of the illustrations amusing because they give well observed examples of true to life behaviour.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, I felt the approach taken in explaining neurodivergence was helpful, kind, and inclusive.

 

Have you ever found it hard to wake up and get yourself going in the morning? Does it sometimes take several hours before you feel properly awake? Could the crux of the matter be you’re simply not getting enough sleep?

What Exactly Is “Enough Sleep”?

Well, opinions have differed on this point. Now, the science is clear with the explosion of recent research into sleep and the brain. The evidence indicates that 8 hours per night is needed for most people to function well. Professor Matthew Walker, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of the bestseller “Why We Sleep,” reveals in his book just how vital sleep is to our well-being.

Sleep Deprivation

Professor Walker describes lack of sleep as a modern-day epidemic that can affect the functioning of almost every system in the human body. At its most extreme, people’s lives are at risk.

In his research on how people function after missing different amounts of sleep per night, it becomes clear that missing even one night of sleep leads to cognitive impairment just as severe as if the person were legally drunk. The most insidious thing about sleep deprivation is that sleep-deprived people have a blind spot about it. They think they are functioning OK, but in reality, they are far more likely to make errors and be unable to focus, having a much higher risk of causing a traffic incident.

Other experiments on people who slept 6 hours a night for 10 nights showed that they, too, became as impaired as if legally drunk. All the signs were that the deterioration would continue to build up over weeks and months if that amount of sleep continued. Too little sleep has a severe impact.

“Chronic sleep deprivation has been reported to be associated with greater mortality via a large number of negative health outcomes, including obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease,” according to Dr. Malcolm von Schantz of the University of Surrey. It turns out that over the last one hundred years, we have been making do with less and less sleep.

The Myth of “Getting By” on Less Sleep

How many of us believe that it is “normal and acceptable” to get by on 6 hours of sleep a night? The research shows unequivocally that nothing can replace sleep. Also, you cannot make up for lost sleep. That’s a myth. Listen to Professor Matthew Walker both busting some popular myths about sleep and explaining what works to help us sleep. https://youtu.be

The Benefits of Good Quality Sleep

So what exactly does sleep do for us that nothing else will? Having good quality sleep can bring life-changing benefits such as:

• Waking up feeling alert and full of vitality
• Better Health
• Improved learning
• Improved memory
• Emotional stability
• Complex reasoning
• Better decision-making

The Sleep and ADHD connection

Most of the above come under the category of ADHD challenges, interestingly enough. In fact, some people posit that ADHD may be, in part, a sleep disorder. While there is no way yet of proving which is a cause and which is an effect, there is nonetheless a strong correlation between ADHD and sleep problems.

If you are finding lack of sleep is making your ADHD symptoms more noticeable or having a negative impact on your day, rest assured there are many small and manageable steps you can take right away towards getting a good night’s sleep.

In part 2 of this blog series, I’ll talk about why people with ADHD find it challenging to get enough sleep and what you can do about it.

Many clients I have worked with on improving their sleep patterns find this has had a positive knock-on effect on the rest of their lives. If you’d like to explore this foundational piece of managing your ADHD through coaching, I can be reached at adhdcoachanna@gmail.com.