Allison Burk’s daughter was struggling. The American teenager had uncontrolled emotions, a decreased ability to pay attention, and trouble completing work on time. A family doctor suggested testing for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. This led to an unexpected discovery: The teen had ADHD, and her mother, Allison Burk, did too. During her daughter’s testing, Burk thought, “Wait a minute. This sounds familiar.” “I was able to piece together that this might be something I was experiencing,” said Burk, who lives in Columbus, Ohio. She sought testing for herself and was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 42. More adults are being diagnosed with ADHD. Diagnoses have been rising for at least 20 years, but seem to have increased sharply in the last few years. A recent government study suggested that more than 15 million adults in the United States, approximately 1 in 17, have been diagnosed with ADHD. The condition starts in childhood, but about half of adults with ADHD are diagnosed when they are 18 or older. Some doctors say the number of people seeking ADHD testing is sharply increasing. “Just in our clinic, requests for assessments have doubled in the last two years,” said Justin Barterian. He is a psychologist based at Ohio State University. Diagnoses have been increasing in both kids and adults. The recent government report also found adult ADHD was more common than what earlier estimates had suggested. Increasing demand for ADHD medication led to severe shortages after the COVID19 pandemic hit in March 2020. A 2023 study showed that the rise in prescriptions was notable in adults, especially among women. ADHD diagnoses and medication were increasing before the pandemic. This is partly because of a change in general diagnostic measures in 2013. Those changes expanded the definition of ADHD and reduced the number of symptoms required for diagnosis. But cases really seemed to increase in 　2020, when schools closed and many adults were forced to work from home. It is very difficult to focus when you are home with your kids. Such conditions may have worsened ADHD symptoms in people with less severe cases.