The national shortage of ADHD medication coincided with the launch of Dr Finlay’s new ADHD Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment Service – prompting ITV News to seek out the views of our Founder, Dr Ben Sinclair.
Filming at Dr Finlay’s Colmore surgery in Birmingham city centre, ITV was reporting on the struggles currently being experienced by many UK patients with ADHD.
The charity ADHD UK estimates, based on data from the medical journal The Lancet and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), that 1.9 million adults, roughly 3% to 4% of the UK population, have the condition.
“ADHD affects almost 2 million people in the UK,” Dr Ben told viewers during his television interview. “That’s a significant amount of people, almost as many people in the UK as the number who are colourblind. So actually, what we are dealing with here is a significant proportion of the population, patients whom we believe can be helped by the right team and sometimes by the right medication.”
Dr Finlay’s has put together an “integrated team”, comprising of a Psychiatrist, Psychologists, ADHD-friendly GPs, Nutritionists and a PT. “They are all part of the ADHT team supporting our patients with what can be a very challenging neurological condition,” said Dr Ben Sinclair.
ITV camera operator Alex Shepherd, also conducting the interview, asked Dr Ben for his views on how ADHD patients can best be supported.
Dr Sinclair added: “These patients, who are often very high-functioning, and quite high-performance people, often struggle to focus, they may struggle with impulsive behaviour or thinking, and they may struggle with poor mental health as a result.
“So we need to really offer them a full package of support, which includes their diet and lifestyle, which will promote better performance delivery. We need to look after mental health and particularly looking at the psychology of ADHD and sharing some tips and tricks on how to recognise some of the pitfalls that come with ADHD.”
‘The ADHD brain has a lot of contributions to make to the world’
“We also know that ADHD can sometimes include hyper-focus, whereby someone can become incredibly productive intensely for a time, but that can be disadvantageous if you need to be interruptible. So it’s really important to understand the condition and to work with the condition rather than against it.
“There are many examples of highly successful people in business who have ADHD, for example entrepreneur Richard Branson. ADHD is part of the autistic spectrum of disorders which includes things like dyspraxia, dyslexia and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), and these can end up causing significant problems.
“But if you manage the condition well, you can overcome those problems and actually the ADHD brain is incredibly productive and creative, has a lot of energy to offer and has a lot of contributions to make to the world if channelled correctly, and if regulated correctly.”
To discuss ADHD support, or if you have any questions for our ADHD Assessment, Diagnosis and Treatment team, please get in touch with us by emailing team@drfinlays.co.uk
