One in four British prisoners suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

According to a new report, one in four British prisoners is believed to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This figure, which surprised experts, is 5 to 10 times the prevalence of 2% to 4% of the general population.

Patient groups and doctors are now asking for ADHD screening when criminals arrive in prison. By regularly inspecting all new prisoners, they can reduce violence behind prisons and help manage disabilities to prevent victims from committing further crimes, they say. increase.

The anomalous numbers are highlighted in a new report produced by the ADHD Foundation, a panel of disability experts, and the pharmaceutical company Takeda, which analyzes evidence about ADHD and the criminal justice system.

The report warns that prison management will be difficult if ADHD prisoners are not found when they arrive to begin their sentence.

“People with ADHD are so impulsive that they can’t sit still, and quite a few people are so painful and hyperactive that they get more and more involved when trapped in a tight, confined space. They have a low tolerance for frustration, which can hurt property such as kicking doors, hitting walls, self-harming, and dumping cells in trash, “MerseyCareNHS said. Dr. Joe Johnson, a trust consultant psychiatrist, said. He worked for six years as a visiting psychiatrist running a mental health clinic at Risley Men’s Prison in Warrington.

“ADHD is very common in prison populations, but it has not been screened,” he said. He added that automated screening on arrival would provide “widespread” benefits.

“Since ADHD is a highly treatable disorder, screening can significantly improve results. Some people self-treat with illicit drugs, improve mental health, and [make them] They are likely to be engaged in education and employment, “Johnson added.

Prison officials could easily identify patients with ADHD by including in the screening process that newly arrived prisoners were already experiencing mental health problems, he said.

The report also found that treating ADHD using either psychological management techniques or medication reduced male criminal behavior by 32% and female criminal behavior by 41%. I did. However, he added that an estimated 80% of prisoners who had it had not been diagnosed.

“People with ADHD don’t have the criminal gene. They aren’t likely to be criminals,” said Dr. Tony Lloyd, CEO of the ADHD Foundation. Due to long waiting times for NHS children and adolescent mental health services and poor management of school students, an unusually high percentage of people in imprisonment are diagnosed when they are children. He said it was due to the inability to do so. The fact that some patients then struggle to keep their jobs down and some patients take drugs, especially cannabis, which can lead to their crimes.

However, Johnson said in his experience that some prisoners who were already taking ADHD medications on arrival were not on the list of treatments issued by prison authorities, so they continue to take them. He said he realized he couldn’t.

The An unnamed 14-year-old boy was convicted ADHD occurred at the Liverpool Crown Court last month when he stabbed and killed 12-year-old Ava White in the city last November.

Studies published in the journal BMC Psychiatry In 2018, we discovered that the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in prisoners could prove “highly likely to have a positive impact on criminals and society” and “significant intervention.” Nevertheless, “In the criminal justice system, ADHD remains misdiagnosed and underdiagnosed, and as a result, is improperly treated.”

Scholars have cited a series of “barriers” within prison for ADHD to be identified and treated. These included too little awareness of staff and prisoners’ symptoms and treatment, a lack of “appropriate screening and use of diagnostic tools”, and a lack of mental health staff.

Department health Social care declined to comment. However, according to Whitehall sources, the Ministry of Justice has shown that prisoners have neurodivergent characteristics, including those related to ADHD, and some help staff help such prisoners. He is trying and considering using different screening tools. Sources say that all adults in custody and those under the age of 18 are already screened for ADHD during the first week of their stay as part of an assessment of their mental health, learning disabilities, or neurodiversity needs. Claimed to have received.