Congratulations to Dr Blandine French who has been awarded a new investigator grant to continue her pioneering research into neurodiversity diagnosis.

Following her work on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) referrals in primary care, Blandine will use the funding to investigate the social, personal, and economic costs of undiagnosed ADHD.

Currently in the UK, it is estimated that over 2.5 million neurodiverse adults have not received a diagnosis and therefore struggle to access care. The most common neurodevelopmental conditions, ADHD and autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), affect 5% and 1% of children and adults in the UK - on average one child per classroom.

While the understanding of ASD and ADHD has greatly increased, a lot of adults and children have not received a diagnosis. Within the UK healthcare system, without a diagnosis, these patients cannot access the care they need. Studies have shown that adults with undiagnosed and untreated ASD/ADHD strongly affect those who are, for example, more likely to have educational problems, depression and anxiety, commit crimes, and abuse substances. These aspects can be reduced with early identification and effective support. Diagnosing ASD/ADHD as early as possible is of utmost importance in reducing some of these long terms risks for adults living with these conditions.

“No research to date has been done on the cost of undiagnosed ASD/ADHD. This new study will highlight the economic and societal cost of undiagnosed ASD/ADHD in order to give policy makers and healthcare providers the necessary information to justify funding appropriate services.” Dr Blandine French

In order to successfully address these priorities, it is important that research first identifies the costs of living with undiagnosed ASD/ADHD. Previous studies which have looked into the cost and impact of undiagnosed mental health on the individuals, society and economy have shown that the cost of not diagnosing and treating mental health issues was higher than the cost of running services for these issues. This led to the creation of a national NHS service (IAPT), a service helping adults with mental health issues.

The aims of this new project include:

• What are the long-term risks (for instance: higher rate of divorce, substance abuse, unemployment) linked with undiagnosed ASD/ADHD?
• What are the individual, societal and economic costs of these risks?

This ESRC grant is fully funded for 3 years, commencing January 2023.