Why are ADHD benefits in the firing line?

[FunStork]

I've been seeing this a lot recently.

Feels like the media is very much against ADHD benefits claims.

Why is that the one that seems to be getting all the focus?

Another one from BBC Verify tonight:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c24ym9yd8p6o

Is this an orchestrated campaign?

I attend similar groups too. We are all different. No one is the same. Some people work, and others do not.

I think it's because having ADHD doesn't incur more costs to live. So, I understand people receiving PIP if they have a condition that limits working hours, means they can't work at all, can work but their condition means they incur extra costs like taxis, therapy, house renovations, other services/ items they may need to aid with there condition. But I really don't understand what extra costs a full time working adult has just because they have ADHD (other than medication). Same with kids, what extra costs are for a child with ADHD compared a child who doesn't have it.

I think the PIP situation needs looking as it seems that people that do need extra support to have a decent quality of life don't get it because funding and resources are too stretched

No one on PIP has to tell anyone what extra costs they have to live.

Also, there is the ADHD tax. Look it up.

I went on a course for understanding ND conditions where we had to do different activities to see what it felt like to have different ND conditions. I think the adhd one was having someone on one side of you reading a poem, someone on the other side of you reciting times tables and while that was going on you had to copy out a recipe for a sponge cake.

Well, there are the clothes we need to wash ten times or bin because we forget to empty the machine or set an alarm then find again once it all smells mouldy (or is growing mould, ick), the food we end up binning due to inability to plan meals or manage shopping, or remembering to take the groceries we bought at lunchtime home from the work fridge on a Friday. There's the damage to the house our child caused by impulsively stuffing soap into the sink overflow and left the tap running until the room below was flooded, the constant school uniform buying because they chew holes in a new shirt the same day, the overdue library book fines, the door that needed replacing because they couldn't be persuaded not to swing on the handle out of an inability to wait for more than five seconds. The lost promotions at work because we're constantly late or forgetful or say the wrong things before thinking, the constant array of objects that we've misplaced or forget exist so buy again, the impulse purchase buying of hundreds of pounds worth of craft supplies only to lose interest and have an overwhelming urge to get into another craft a month later that feels more important in the moment than breathing. Needing to eventually hire other people to do the things you can't but feel you should be able to, the therapy books, the time off ill from depression because everyone else somehow manages these things, or off ill because impulsive behaviour gave you a harmful addiction or lack of executive function made it impossible to organise dentist appointments let alone remember to brush your teeth and now you need half your teeth root canalled or removed but you don't have a dentist because you forgot to book regular appointments and they discharged you as a patient. Or off unpaid, fired or forced to work part time because there is no childcare that will accept your child who is wildly uncontrollable without 1:1 care and school have sent them home again for stealing food and pushing past all the other children patiently queueing. The free meals and childcare during holidays that your child can't access despite being poor enough, because the holiday clubs say they're inclusive to disabled children but aren't. The time someone stole your car because you forgot to close an external door. The far higher likelihood of divorce, unplanned pregnancy and various other adverse life events.

Gosh, I wish all of that cost nothing.

Yes fair enough “everyone”’ is incorrect. I should have written “many” or “most”. I also have ADHD and am fed up of hearing claims that it is being overdiagnosed, people are pretending they have it to get accommodative at work they don’t need, get PIP etc etc.

The vast majority of PIP claimants are now too disabled to work. It didn't used to be like that when it was introduced from what I understand but from what I've read on disability support forums it sounds like there's been a conscious drive from the government over the years to block people who are well enough/able enough to work from getting PIP. Some still do work and get it of course but it's more unusual (and I suspect it's people with undeniable physical disabilities who would make the DWP look bad if their photograph was to appear in the press). One woman who posted in a disability benefits forum said that one of the assessors actually commented to the other during a tribunal that she didn't understand how she, the claimant, was still receiving PIP while managing to hold down a full time job (I think she actually had MS rather than ADHD but I could be wrong - can't remember the details). She lost it at that review. It is being rationed. Anyone getting PIP for "only" ADHD has it severely but I suspect the majority have multiple conditions. When I did my application I didn't have to list a main condition and I have no idea what they decided my main condition was. I do have ADHD though (as well as a dozen other things) and I do get PIP. I am too disabled to work.

My ex gets PIP for ADHD & Anxiety. This is relatively recently - 3/4 years. I personally think with the right support he could work and actually what has made his MH worse is not working. He hasn’t worked since Covid (was undiagnosed at that time)

he is currently battling because they have downgraded his PIP a level

I think it's this, plus the huge social media self diagnosed ADHD presence.

ADHD, like autism, is such a wide spectrum, and where people twenty years ago thought of people who couldn't live independently when they thought of both conditions, now they think of social media advocates or self diagnosed colleagues/ aquaintances.

It's quite controversial - diagnostic criteria change over time which is good for people understanding themselves but bad for people who genuinely need very significant support getting ever more limited funding.

When the child gets to the age of 16, they are invited to claim PIP, so are reassessed.

There's probably something to this. And yet these people are very unlikely to be getting PIP. Very few people disabled enough to get PIP are in full time work.

I know someone who gets pip for adhd. He works so doesn’t claim anything related to his ability to work but he gets pip for it.

Because it’s ridiculous in most cases to award a benefit just based on a diagnosis of ADHD. My friend gets £400 a month for her son’s ADHD. But the NHS pay for his medications, all appointments and diagnosis so what’s the money for? Friend was told to use to do things to use up son’s excess energy. There’s plenty of things you can do for free for that, the nation can’t afford it.

Yep seen this also (I have later life diagnosis, always worked) seem people look up symptoms and be coached what to say to claim. Infuriating!

Its because over the last 25 years, the diagnostic criteria for adhd and autism have been broadened considerably to include a lot of people with milder traits who would not have met threshholds in the past. Those people would simply have been regarded as having quirky traits in the past & would have been expected to manage life without financial support /accomodations for being "disabled", so people can't see why its necessary.

At the same time that broadening of criteria has meant its become harder and harder to distinguish between a clear ND profile & traits many NT people also have, like time blindness, disorganisation, dislike of noises & smells, struggles to focus on boring tasks, procrastination.

This makes it harder for people to see these diagnoses as valid, because the definitions are so broad as to cover a huge proportion of what has previously been considered normal human variation/personality.

To pay for a private prescription, cleaning costs if someone is incontinent, to pay for counselling, taxi to work
What is it everyone needs it for?
It shouldn’t just be nice to have.

Honest answer here..... I think ADHD diagnoses have become a bit of a trend, and whilst debilitating for some, have become an excuse not to work for others.

I also believe ADHD is exacerbated by bad diets, lack of exercise and learned short attention spans due to phone usage and social media, and I resent these people not working whilst I have to.

Maybe educate yourself by reading the independent review on AdHD done by the NHS. It’s under diagnosed and clearly misunderstood in this country.

www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/report-of-the-independent-adhd-taskforce-part-1/

If you are spending hundreds of pounds on craft supplies, buying school uniform constantly and replacement groceries, how are you poor enough to need free meals during the holidays?

He won’t get pip just for ADHD. It would be pretty much impossible to. The questions and point system would not qualify him.

Its a dreadfully researched article written by somebody who clearly has no knowledge of the PIP system- or ADHD.The wording is inflammatory- “main diagnosis is ADHD” although clearly points out there will be other diagnoses with it I’d love to know how they know it’s a “main” diagnosis”. It’s impossible to get data for that and it isn’t how the form is constructed. Conditions aren’t ranked.

I regularly have to do my washing 2 or 3 times, because I can't be arsed hanging it out.

The National Autistic Society have already raised concerns about articles like this. I think journalists really need to be held more to account.

Totally agree with this.

Maybe the celebrities who talk about ADHD think they're helping, but they're really not. Many come across as self-obsessed.

I suspect they're doing for ADHD what Hollywood parents have done for trans kids.

Almost every day there's another celeb saying they have ADHD - this was on my feed this morning:

https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2026/0707/1582241-dragons-den-star-sara-davies-diagnosed-with-adhd/

There is a very interesting book called The Age of Diagnosis by Suzanne O'Sullivan. You can listen to it on BBC sounds. You may not agree with everything but it is still very interesting.

One thing she raises is the issue of whether we over- diagnose certain conditions like autism, and what the impact of that is for those who suffer it to a debilitating degree. One effect could be depriving people who desperately need it of access to resources where waiting lists are lengthening. There is also a danger that the wider public start to think "I know Ben has autism and it isn't that bad, he can hold down a job, so Bill can't be as badly affected as he claims".

I wonder if that has happened with ADHD - high flying professionals are getting diagnosed which may give the impression that it isn't or shouldn't be a condition that stops people working, whereas for some people it definitely is.

Combine that with the fact that some people clearly do take advantage of the system and the suspicion that ADHD is easily faked in a way that physical illness can't be.

You don’t understand how a deficit of attention could prevent someone from functioning in the work place? What kind of job do you do?