ADHD Medication Rates Climb, Surge in Use Among Young Women

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication has seen a spike in use over the last five years according to a new study conducted by drug shipment company Express Scripts Holding. Interestingly, this rise in use was primarily led by a surge in ADHD medication subscriptions to young women.

According to the report, which was based off an Express Scripts database of over 15 million privately insured patients, use of ADHD medication among young women saw an 85 percent growth spurt in 2012 from a significantly smaller subscription rate back in 2008. These women, primarily aged 26 to 34 years old, helped cause the number of women 19 and over to officially outnumber ADHD medicated men.

This spike in use of ADHD medication use in women significantly contributed to a rise in the medication use overall. The number of Americans taking ADHD medication rose 36 percent from 2008 to 2012. According to the report, nearly 4.8 million of the total 15 million privately insured U.S. citizens were on ADHD medication in 2012.

According to the report, the increased numbers may indicate that not only are more people findings treatment they need, but also that abuse of these drugs may unfortunately be becoming more common. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications such as Ritalin, Adderall, and their generic equivalents are stimulants designed to help individuals with ADHD find focus with minds that are frequently wandering.  However, these drugs are also used as study aids among academic young adults. In young women especially, these stimulants have been abused as weight-loss aids, or even a way to improperly fight depression.

Authors of the report also explain that while ADHD diagnoses numbers have risen equivalently with the rising medication rates, some of these diagnoses may be falsified means to an end, that end of course being the subscription of a drug to a patient who does not necessarily actually need it.

The report, Turning Attention to ADHD, was published by Express Scripts on March 12.

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