ADHD
The Great ADHD Divide
As the Norwegian Directorate of Health revises its national guidelines for ADHD assessment, experts wonder if stricter criteria will protect patients or simply block their access to help.
Marcus Hoff Utne (28) has a master’s degree, a steady job, and no history of failing school. That is exactly why he was denied an ADHD assessment by the public healthcare system.
– I started wondering if my difficulties in school and life could be ADHD, he says. So I asked my general practitioner if I could be referred for an assessment.
With several family members diagnosed, it did not feel unlikely. More than anything, he says he hoped for answers.
– And maybe some validation for what I had experienced.
But Utne never made it into the psychologist’s office.
– They told me I «function too well in society» to have ADHD. It’s frustrating, because I’ve always felt like something is a bit off.
They told me I «function too well in society» to have ADHD
A Diagnosis Boom
ADHD has become one of Norway’s most debated diagnoses in 2026.
In recent months, Norwegian media have focused heavily on private clinics issuing large numbers of ADHD diagnoses, often through rapid online assessments. In April, NRK reported on one clinic that had issued 299 diagnoses in a single year while marketing quick digital evaluations.
The political response soon followed.
– We need more knowledge about ADHD treatment and medication use, Health Minister Jan Christian Vestre told NRK, adding that «some of these medications are strong».
In March, the Norwegian Directorate of Health announced a full review of Norway’s national ADHD guidelines.
– We are concerned that so many children and young people are now being diagnosed with ADHD, Director of Health Cathrine M. Lofthus said in their written statement.
The Directorate cited figures from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI), showing a sharp rise in ADHD diagnoses among children and adolescents in recent years.
One of the report’s co-authors, Heidi Aase, says researchers still discuss what is driving the increase.
– Either more people genuinely have ADHD now, brought about by changes in society and the way we live, or we have become better at detecting it, she tells Universitas.
Increase or Correction?
Aase is one of Norway’s leading researchers on ADHD and neurodevelopmental disorders, and Head of the Department of Child Health and Development at FHI. She says that the increased referrals to specialist healthcare centers and long waiting lists are pushing more people toward private clinics, where assessment practices vary more widely.
– I know there is a great deal of variation in how different services carry out diagnostics, she says. The public healthcare system has no control over how diagnoses are made in the private sector.
The public healthcare system has no control over how diagnoses are made in the private sector
Psychiatrist Tony Bakkejord rejects the idea that private diagnoses are inherently less reliable. Having worked several roles within the public healthcare system before becoming a private practitioner, he believes the rise in diagnoses reflects improved detection rather than widespread overdiagnosis.
– ADHD has likely been underdiagnosed, especially among girls, so the recent increase in diagnoses is highly realistic and partly due to improved detection. Overall diagnosed rates are still lower than expected, even in the groups with the highest numbers.
He states that official reports – including FHI’s 2025-report – largely support the same conclusion, and raises the question of why this evidence is not more consistently acknowledged.
– It’s frustrating, because the ADHD debate often excludes the people with the most clinical experience. We have become a nation that listens to those who have done it ten times, while those who have done it a thousand times are not asked.
We have become a nation that listens to those who have done it ten times, while those who have done it a thousand times are not asked
Matters of Functionality
PhD Cecilie Haukland, who is also a nurse, a business economist and an ADHD researcher, strongly rejects the idea that education or employment should rule out ADHD. Having been diagnosed with ADHD as an adult herself, she claims it’s impossible to determine unless a full assessment has been carried out.
– School and work are only part of the picture, she says. Saying someone cannot have ADHD because they got through school and hold a steady job is bullshit.
Saying someone cannot have ADHD because they got through school and hold a steady job is bullshit
She and Bakkejord run a private ADHD clinic in Bodø. Both believe the ADHD debate has taken a damaging turn, increasingly focused on accusations of overdiagnosis rather than underlying causes.
– The impression being created is that private clinics are broadly overdiagnosing patients, Bakkejord says. But the real question is why so many children and young people are struggling in the first place.
They argue that modern schools and workplaces have become less flexible, making symptoms more impairing than before. Haukland also points to longer school days, higher academic demands and less room for variation.
– We are not turning normal behaviour into illness. Society has changed, she says.
Meanwhile, Aase from FHI warns that ordinary attention problems and variation in daily functioning may increasingly be interpreted as ADHD, partly amplified by social media. She worries that platforms like Tiktok can blur the line between normal variation and disorder.
Bakkejord disagrees with her conclusion.
– People seek help in crises, he says. These are not people who are doing perfectly fine and suddenly think they might have ADHD after watching a video online. Many have been on long-term sick leave before they ever seek an assessment.
The idea that private clinics are flooded with healthy people influenced by Tiktok does not reflect what he sees in practice.
– Of the last thousand people I’ve assessed for ADHD, the number who did not have major struggles when they came to me is zero. None of them were people who were doing fine and simply saw something on Tiktok.
Limited Capacity
Aase emphasises that ADHD is a serious condition, but says rising diagnosis rates could challenge healthcare capacity.
– In some services, as many as 50 percent of referrals are about ADHD.
She worries this may crowd out other patients and reflects that a large share of young people are now entering long-term psychiatric follow-up.
Bakkejord disagrees.
– Getting the right diagnosis and proper treatment often means people become less impaired and function far better. Then both functioning and quality of life improve significantly, and many are able to stop using other medications, meaning their overall need for treatment goes down.
He also calls for equal scrutiny of public and private practice.
– If the same standards were applied everywhere, I don’t believe private providers would come out worse.
Growing Thresholds
Marcus Hoff Utne says social media played little role in his decision to seek help.
– I don’t really consume ADHD content online. It was mainly seeing it in my family that made me wonder, he says.
Still, he was not offered a full assessment in the public system because he was considered to be functioning too well.
He never sought a second opinion.
– Maybe they were right. I honestly don’t know.
That uncertainty reflects the core of the current ADHD debate in Norway: where the line between disorder and ordinary struggle should be drawn.
Haukland fears the debate itself may deter people from seeking help.
– What is the point of telling people to just cope? she asks. Some will end up worse off, but labelled differently.
Bakkejord adds:
– The current ADHD debate will make more people hesitate to seek assessment or ask for help. Some will simply postpone it for another two years, with the consequences that follow. They won’t function properly and problems will arise, but it will be labelled as something else.
