🧠 Mental Health Trends in Young People During the Pandemic

What a UK study found about ADHD, anxiety, depression, and medication

📌 Why this study was done

Doctors and families have worried about young people’s mental health—especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study looked at over 12 million children and young adults (ages 1–24) in the UK to see how often doctors:

• Gave mental health diagnoses (like ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression)
• Prescribed medications (like ADHD meds, antidepressants, antipsychotics)

The researchers compared the years before the pandemic (2010–2020) with the first 2 years after it began (2020–2022).

🔎 What the study found

1. ADHD in girls and young women went up

• ADHD diagnoses in females rose 25% higher than expected.
• The biggest jump was in women ages 20–24 (about 160% higher than expected!) and ages 17–19 (about 50% higher).
• Prescriptions for ADHD medication also increased for females.
• Most of this increase was seen in less deprived (wealthier) areas.

2. ADHD in boys went down

• ADHD diagnoses in males actually fell by about 17% compared to what was expected.
• ADHD medication prescribing for boys also went down.

3. Other mental health diagnoses went down

• Depression: down 48% in boys, down 32% in girls.
• Anxiety: down 41% in boys, down 34% in girls.
• Autism, substance misuse, and personality disorders: all stayed lower or close to expected levels.

4. Medications mostly went down too

• Prescriptions for antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds, and antipsychotics dropped compared to expected.
• The only rise was ADHD medication for young women.

💡 Why might this have happened?

The researchers think a few things could explain it:

• ADHD awareness exploded, especially on social media (like TikTok). This made more young women realize they might have ADHD.
• Access to care got harder during the pandemic (fewer GP visits, long waiting lists, remote appointments). This may explain why other conditions like depression and anxiety were diagnosed less.
• Families with more money may have turned to private ADHD clinics, boosting diagnoses in wealthier groups.
• Some young people may now describe their struggles through the neurodiversity lens (like ADHD) rather than as “anxiety” or “depression.”