Adults with ADHD left struggling to access treatment in NI
Rebecca Bryson owns three businesses, which helps to cover the cost of her ADHD, external treatment and follow up care. Her husband, Colum Coyle, also has ADHD, and both pay for regular private psychiatric reviews, prescriptions and medication. Their combined costs of staying on treatment are about £4,000 a year. “It’s a tonne of money…
Rebecca Bryson owns three businesses, which helps to cover the cost of her ADHD, external treatment and follow up care.
Her husband, Colum Coyle, also has ADHD, and both pay for regular private psychiatric reviews, prescriptions and medication. Their combined costs of staying on treatment are about £4,000 a year.
“It’s a tonne of money that most people don’t have, and I’m in a position where we do have it because I work multiple jobs,” she said.
She said the situation felt “wildly unfair and kind of inhumane”.
“If I had another medical condition like cancer or a broken bone, and I asked for medical treatment, they wouldn’t turn me away.”
Bryson said there needed to be a clear route to diagnosis for adults with ADHD in Northern Ireland.
“You can get a diagnosis as a child, but once you turn 18, you’re on your own. It’s bananas.”
