- Up to 16% of school-aged children and 4% of adults have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, show international studies.
- In South Africa, the proportion of primary school children with ADHD who use government health facilities is as low as 1.72% because the public sector doesn’t have enough of the right health workers to diagnose people.
- In this podcast episode, Mia Malan speaks to psychiatrist Renata Schoeman, who is the co-author of South Africa’s ADHD management guidelines and chairs the special interest ADHD group of the SA Society of Psychiatrists.
- Schoeman says over 10 000 studies show the brain, particularly the frontal lobes, of someone with ADHD looks different on scans from someone who doesn’t have the condition.
- Eight in 10 people with the condition have a child, parent or sibling with it. Many adults only discover they have ADHD when their children get diagnosed and they recognise the symptoms in themselves.
- Malan asks Schoeman: can you outgrow the condition? Find out.
In today’s newsletter, Mia Malan asks if you can outgrow ADHD. Sign up for our newsletter today.
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Mia Malan is the founder and editor-in-chief of Bhekisisa. She has worked in newsrooms in Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington, DC, winning more than 30 awards for her radio, print and television work.
Danny Booysen is a freelance audio technical producer and has over 30 years of experience in the broadcast industry.
