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Chapter 15 - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2019

By
Helen Linnington  and
Helen Crimlisk
Edited by
Rob Butler  and
Cornelius Katona
Rob Butler
Affiliation:
Waitemata DHB and North Shore Hospital, Auckland
Cornelius Katona
Affiliation:
Helen Bamber Foundation
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Summary

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a rarely encountered condition in most services that look after older adults (over 65). Gaining a new diagnosis of ADHD in this age group would be very unusual. However, it is now nearly 50 years since the inclusion of ‘hyperkinetic reaction of childhood’ in DSM-II in 1968, and 20 years since the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines recommended treatment in adults [1], so it is possible that older adults’ services may start to see a few patients, who are presenting for other reasons, with this historical diagnosis. In years to come, old age psychiatrists may be asked to advise on, or be responsible for continuation or cessation of medications for ADHD that have been started years before. As the condition becomes more prominent in the consciousness of the general public, older people, previously undiagnosed may seek a professional opinion to whether ADHD is an explanation for their lifelong difficulties and what should be done about it at this stage.

Type
Chapter
Information
Seminars in Old Age Psychiatry , pp. 165 - 177
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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