Adult ADHD: Late Diagnosis, Gender Bias and the Rise in Treatments

Pharmacies in France dispensed 11.4 times more methylphenidate—commonly known as Ritaline—to adults aged twenty and older in 2025 than they did in 2014. This surge in treatments for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, coincides with a wave of late diagnoses among adults and growing public debate over whether the condition is merely a passing trend on social media.

The Reality Behind Adult Diagnoses

Anne-Laure received a formal diagnosis of ADHD at age thirty-seven after struggling with concentration issues for roughly a decade. The thirty-seven-year-old resident of Reims described an initial feeling of profound relief upon finally receiving official validation from a psychiatrist. Before the evaluation, her struggles with organization and inconstant attention had been masked for years by associated anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.

Dr. Martina Traykova, a psychiatrist specializing in adult ADHD at the Établissement public de santé mentale de la Marne in Reims, explained that associated conditions are frequently more visible than the underlying neurodevelopmental disorder itself. While children with ADHD often display disruptive or hyperactive behavior in classrooms, adults typically learn to mask their symptoms or cope through repetitive habits and avoidance strategies.

J’ai pas envie d’être à la mode moi… Ça minimise des années de galère !

Anne-Laure, diagnosed with ADHD at age 37

Dispelling Social Media Skepticism

Public discussions on social media platforms frequently dismiss the sharp rise in diagnoses as a modern trend where young people appropriate neurological traits. Dr. Traykova acknowledged that the condition can appear trendy on digital platforms among youths who recognize shared symptoms, but emphasized that clinical criteria remain strict and require long-term disruption to social and professional functioning.

Dr. Guillaume Lorin, another psychiatrist specializing in adult ADHD at the Reims facility, described the current environment as a national catch-up phase rather than a fleeting cultural fad. Healthcare professionals are exhibiting heightened vigilance, leading to the identification of cases that went completely unnoticed throughout childhood.

Rising Treatment Numbers Across Age Groups

The increase in clinical detection is directly reflected in national pharmacy reimbursement data. Reimbursements for methylphenidate among patients under twenty years old multiplied by a factor of 3.6 between 2014 and 2025. For individuals aged twenty and older over the same period, the multiplication factor reached 11.4.

This sharp divergence between age groups is partly driven by a regulatory change implemented in 2022 that extended prescription reimbursements to adults whose treatment regimens did not begin during childhood. Gender dynamics also heavily influence when diagnoses occur. While boys are diagnosed much more frequently during childhood due to overt hyperactivity, young girls often display subtle inattentiveness and daydreaming, resulting in fewer childhood detections and a higher rate of identification during adulthood.

Expanding Regional Support Networks in the Grand Est

Dr. Lorin and Dr. Traykova are actively contributing to the establishment of the Reims branch of this future resource center at the Établissement public de santé mentale de la Marne.