MELBOURNE: Benefit claims for teenagers diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism have more than tripled since the pandemic, with the sharpest rise seen in the richest areas.

More than one in 40 teenagers in the most affluent areas received Personal Independence Payments (Pip) last year for ADHD or autism, a study from the Nuffield Trust has found.

The findings have come to light before a government review into ADHD, autism and mental health services as concerns grow over their diagnosis rates.

Researchers said higher rates of new ADHD diagnoses in wealthier areas could partly reflect affluent families making greater use of private routes to diagnosis.

They warned that soaring demand for diagnosis and treatment risked “crowding out” the most severe cases and the “unnecessary and possibly harmful pathologisation of a sizeable proportion of the population”.

The Nuffield Trust report shows a quarter of 16 to 24-year-olds screened positive for ADHD symptoms in 2023-24, up from around 14 per cent in 2007. Researchers stressed that screening positive for symptoms does not amount to a clinical diagnosis.

Self-reported autism among 16 to 24-year-olds has also risen, from around 5 per cent in 2022 to 9 per cent in 2025.

Seven in 10 GPs believe adult ADHD is overdiagnosed, while more than eight in 10 patients referred for assessments ultimately had received a diagnosis, doctors estimated.

However, Prof Peter Fonagy, who is leading the review, has insisted the wider rise in mental health problems among young people is real.

He said his review would conclude that problems had increased since the 1990s, with one in four 16 to 24-year-olds struggling with mental health problems.

Prof Fonagy rejected suggestions that a “snowflake generation” was behind the rise, saying it was now “harder to be young”.

He said economic and employment uncertainty, combined with the pressures of social media, had created a “very toxic” environment for young people.

More than 51,000 teenagers aged 16 and 17 received Pip for autism or ADHD in 2025, up from 16,000 in 2019, the Nuffield Trust found.

The study divided Britain into five segments, from the least deprived areas to the most deprived. In the least deprived fifth of the country, Pip rates for ADHD and autism more than tripled from 0.8 to 2.5 per cent between 2019 and 2025.

It means one in 40 teenagers in these areas now receives such benefits. However, overall rates remain higher in the most deprived fifth, where they rose from 2.1 to 5.1 per cent, equivalent to around one in 20.

But the increase was 28 per cent faster in the least deprived areas, significantly narrowing the gap between rich and poor.

Researchers also raised the possibility that rising diagnosis and recognition did not necessarily reflect an equivalent rise in people whose conditions significantly impair their daily lives.

The scale of spending has also risen sharply.

More than 205,000 people aged 16 to 24 were receiving Pip for ADHD or autism by April 2026, more than three times the number in 2019.

The report estimated the annual cost at £1.36bn.

It said this was just below the planned NHS budget for child and adolescent mental health services that year.

For 16 and 17-year-olds alone, researchers estimated £296m has been spent on Pip for autism and ADHD in 2025.

Around £87m went to those in the least-deprived 40 per cent of neighbourhoods, almost four times the inflation-adjusted £22m spent in 2019.

Pip is not means-tested and is awarded according to how much a condition impairs daily life rather than whether someone has a diagnosis.

Sally Gainsbury, senior policy analyst at the Nuffield Trust, said: “Our findings could reflect unequal access to diagnosis, which we know is substantial.

“But they could also point to inconsistencies and uncertainties, both in the welfare system and in wider society, about how disability is understood and assessed when it comes to autism and ADHD.”

She added: “Demand for diagnosis and treatment has risen dramatically, and services are struggling to keep pace. Overwhelmed systems risk missing people with the most pressing need.”

Thea Stein, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust, said: “As diagnosis and recognition of neurodiversity continue to grow, policymakers will need to grapple with the complex picture identified in this report to ensure support is targeted fairly and effectively.

“That will involve identifying where needs are best supported through the healthcare and benefit system and where it would be more appropriate to support people through broader changes to work, schools and wider society, to better reflect, respect and value human diversity.”

The Pulse survey of more than 800 GPs found some doctors were particularly concerned about diagnoses made by private providers.

One GP said they could not recall a private provider ever declining to diagnose ADHD, while another reported one negative assessment among more than 1,000 referrals.

Prof Fonagy’s review is expected to examine how people can receive help according to their needs without support necessarily depending on obtaining a formal diagnosis.

He has previously warned that making access to support dependent on diagnosis could itself “amplify demand” for diagnostic labels.