While I agree with viewing health holistically and treating the person, not the disease, I felt uncomfortable with some of the conclusions that Suzanne O’Sullivan draws from the cases presented (Are we less healthy than we used to be – or overdiagnosing illness?, 1 March). Implying that we are overdiagnosing certain conditions only reinforces the stigma associated with them, and will prevent people in need from being taken seriously and receiving appropriate support and treatment. The scepticism, however well-meaning, can be damaging for patient outcomes and public health in general. Treatments and support available for conditions such as ADHD and autism are already lacking and underresearched.
The rise of diagnostic levels of most of these conditions comes from increased awareness, and also from the environmental changes in our society that place ever-increasing pressure on individuals to perform at a certain standard. Neurodiversity conditions have become a lot more debilitating for those experiencing them. Increased population density exposes individuals to more stimuli than their nervous system can handle. Technological progress, particularly the advent of smartphones, has led to an expectation of being always available and a pressure to react and respond in real time that did not exist 20 years ago.
