North Karelia has had the highest adhd medication purchases in the country for a long time, and the pace is only accelerating. The service manager explains why this is so.
North Karelia the higher number of ADHD diagnoses than in the rest of Finland can partly be explained by the turnover of health center doctors, says the service manager, senior physician Sanni Penttilä from the North Karelia welfare area.
“In recent years, primary care doctors with only short training in our region have also had to treat children's ADHD without the support of a wider multidisciplinary working group. It is not desirable,” he says.
Penttilä points out that, on the other hand, ADHD in the region is typically identified early and children can receive treatment and support.
“But there is a danger that it will slip to the side of medicalization.”
January at the end from the news A recent report by the Institute of Health and Welfare (THL) revealed that in the welfare region of North Karelia, in 2022, more activity and attention deficit disorders, or ADHD, have been diagnosed, especially in boys, than in the rest of Finland.
Penttilä was not surprised by THL's report.
“For a long time now, we have had the highest ADHD medication purchases in the country, and the number of diagnoses has only accelerated in recent years.”
Second According to Penttilä, the factor explaining the phenomenon may lie in changes in the growing environment.
“We know that many factors can cause a child to develop ADHD-like symptoms, such as restlessness and impulsivity.”
It may be that the child does not eat or sleep well or experiences chronic stress. At the population level, North Karelia's high unemployment rates and the region's morbidity may also be background factors.
In addition, the child is affected by, for example, the operating culture of the school and the coping skills of the teachers. The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has not completely disappeared. Penttilä points out that it is a common issue of society, which cannot be solved by social security services alone.
Helsingin Sanomat reported earlier of two boys living in the Joensuu region who had been diagnosed with ADHD.
The mother of the second boy felt that the child's school pressured her to get a diagnosis and start medication. The father of the second boy, on the other hand, said that the diagnosis, made quickly and incorrectly, was overturned years later after proper examinations.
Penttilä does not know the details of the story of the two families interviewed by HS, so he comments on the topic in general. He emphasizes that the ADHD diagnosis should not be ruled out.
“A symptom mapping form is not enough, the expert must learn about the child's developmental history and life situation,” says Penttilä.
Drawing the line between normal functioning and mild ADHD can be tricky. Differential diagnosis of developmental disorders is not always easy either, Penttilä explains.
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