Sarah jane Mcgarry’s Post

1 in 4 adults in prison have ADHD. That’s 5x higher than the general population. ADHD is shockingly underdiagnosed and undertreated in prisons. Less than 2% of adults in prison have an ADHD diagnosis - but over 25% meet the diagnostic criteria. ADHD is linked with differences in attention regulation, impulsivity and emotional regulation. When ADHD people don’t get access to diagnosis, medication, understanding and support, they are at increased risk of: ❌ emotionally based school avoidance ❌ low self-esteem, anxiety and depression ❌ substance misuse ❌ being perceived as defiant or aggressive ❌ unemployment ❌ risky behaviours ❌ death by suicide The waiting times for an NHS ADHD assessment is up to 8 years. Some are choosing to access a private assessment, but for many this is unaffordable. Something is clearly broken in the system. We need: ✔️ Training for healthcare/education professionals to better understand ADHD and recognise inattentive and mixed profiles ✔️ Timely access to ADHD assessments ✔️ Timely access to ADHD medication ✔️ Reasonable adjustments in schools and workplaces ✔️ Screening for ADHD (and other ND conditions) for all adults on entry into prisons These changes can change the trajectory of people’s lives, and in many cases literally save lives. Thoughts? #adhd #mentalhealth #prison #neurodiversity ---------------------- Hi, I’m Eve. I’m a highly specialist speech and language therapist. I offer training and therapy for autism, ADHD and ARFID. www.audhdadvice.com  

It is estimated that up to 45% of people in jail have ADHD 🧠. There are many contributing factors: Impulsivity resulting in bad decisions. Taking drugs to manage life with ADHD. Emotional dysregulation can result in explosive anger, frustration, or emotional outbursts. These can lead to aggressive behaviour, conflicts with authority figures, and legal trouble 😡. Hyperactivity may cause individuals to seek stimulation through risky or reckless activities. Executive function is impaired in people with ADHD. This can impair an individual’s ability to follow the law, stay organized, meet deadlines (like court dates), or comply with legal obligations (like probation rules), increasing the chances of incarceration 📅. Many people with ADHD experience Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, an extreme emotional response to perceived rejection or criticism. This hypersensitivity can lead to intense anger or withdrawal, sometimes resulting in aggressive or illegal behaviour as a way to cope with the emotional pain. It is easy to see how unmanaged ADHD can result in imprisonment. What is not so easy to understand is why there aren’t ADHD screening and treatment programmes in all prisons 🏛️. Why isn’t there significant investment in screening for ADHD, so it can be treated, instead of people spending years in prison, coming out no better off, and re-offending? Something has got to change!

It is estimated that up to 45% of people in jail have ADHD 🧠. There are many contributing factors: Impulsivity resulting in bad decisions. Taking drugs to manage life with ADHD. Emotional dysregulation can result in explosive anger, frustration, or emotional outbursts. These can lead to aggressive behavior, conflicts with authority figures, and legal trouble 😡. Hyperactivity may cause individuals to seek stimulation through risky or reckless activities. Executive function is impaired in people with ADHD. This can impair an individual’s ability to follow the law, stay organized, meet deadlines (like court dates), or comply with legal obligations (like probation rules), increasing the chances of incarceration 📅. Many people with ADHD experience Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria, an extreme emotional response to perceived rejection or criticism. This hypersensitivity can lead to intense anger or withdrawal, sometimes resulting in aggressive or illegal behavior as a way to cope with the emotional pain. It is easy to see how unmanaged ADHD can result in imprisonment. What is not so easy to understand is why there aren’t ADHD screening and treatment programmes in all prisons 🏛️. Why isn’t there significant investment in screening for ADHD, so it can be treated, instead of people spending years in prison, coming out no better off, and re-offending? Something has got to change!

Dyslexia is 4 times more common amongst offenders in prison than in the general public. It's common with dyslexia that there are two extremes. You either find a disproportionate number of dyslexics amongst CEOs at one end of the scale, and a disproportionate number of dyslexics amongst in prison. So whats the divergence? What decides if you will end up as a CEO or in prison? In the latest episode of the podcast we hear from Sarah Templeton who believes in early diagnosis for neurodiversities like Dyslexia or ADHD so that the right support in the school education years can be implemented and set them up for sucess. Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dVxRC3DS Sponsored by neurobox #Dyslexia #Dyslexic #ADHD

Drop whatever you are doing tonight at 6.20 pm and please have a listen to me telling you what’s really going on in the UK Prison system when it comes to ADHD. I will be talking about ~ 💜 Prisons who will medicate some ADHD people and not others - despite the diagnosing Psychiatrist confirming that diagnosis with the Prison who still refuse to medicate 💜 How the ‘1 in 4 figure have ADHD inside Prison’ needs to be consigned to the dustbin once and for all 💜 Why I was at Inquest because one Prison wouldn’t medicate somebody diagnosed with ADHD - despite five safeguarding risk letters all of which were ignored. Till he set fire to himself and finished the job by hanging himself. 💜 How our pilots and trials are consistently showing 85% involved in the CJS have mostly undiagnosed and always unmedicated ADHD 💜 How we as a charity and the public have given up on Prison mental health services and are instead diagnosing people via video link by ADHD and ASD Expert Psychiatrists and Psychologists on the outside 💜 Why this constant diagnosis of ‘personality disorders’ inside prisons is not only wrong but damaging and at times life-threatening 💜 How the School-to-Prison pipeline is littered with ADHD and undiagnosed dyslexia, dyscalculia and dysgraphia 💜 How teachers can access training to stop this scandalous pipeline 💜 How the public will be safer once we screen, assess, diagnose and medicate all ADHD people 💜 Why I am going to Australia in February and March and how that involves the CJS there Well done to Henry Shelford for pulling this together and if you are interested in ADHD, it’s a 24 hour conference that I strongly recommend is worth listening to 💜

According to the CDC approximately 11.4% of children age 3-17 have been diagnosed with #ADHD. Boys are twice as likely to be affected than girls. ADHD can stand alone or coexist with other disorders including behavioral conduct problems, anxiety, depression, or autism spectrum disorder. Early detection and treatment is crucial to develop coping skills, strategies, and tools to regulate emotions, impulsivity, attention, and focus. IEP- individual education plan, 504 plan, occupational therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, counseling, or pharmaceutical treatments are available. Did you know that individuals with untreated ADHD are at double the risk for an arrest or conviction? Studies have identified that youth prisons population have a fivefold increase in ADHD, whereas adult prisons have a tenfold increase when compared to the general public. #ADHDawareness #mentalhealth #LNC #legalnurseconsultant #occupationaltherpay

In this article, Maria Koukou explores the link between ADHD and criminality, revealing that a significant percentage of prisoners in England and Wales may have undiagnosed ADHD, a factor linked to increased aggression, substance misuse, and reoffending. Maria looks at the Ministry of Justice’s recent strategies to support neurodivergent prisoners, with updates on new initiatives to better recognise and address ADHD-related challenges. Follow the link below for an in-depth look at ADHD in the criminal justice system. https://lnkd.in/eTCgupEc

Some really important work taking place to help reform the prison system for #neurodivergent people. Please read and share with anyone it would be helpful to 👇🏼 #ADHD #Autism #CriminalJusticeSystem #Assessments #Diagnosis #Prisons

New paper!! Around 8% of adults in prison have been diagnosed with ADHD in research studies, and 4% after excluding an outlier. Previous reviews/metas have included selected samples (eg forensic psych pts, referrals to mental health) and overestimated prevalence by >3-4 fold.   Also highlights the importance of appraising the quality of prevalence reviews in mental health and prison health - many prevalence studies use self-reported symptom scores as proxies for diagnoses, selected samples, screening tools. In ADHD studies, if a screen was followed by a more detailed assessment (2-phase design), prevalence was systematically higher. We think it may be related to a form of confirmation bias or (medication and other perceived) consequences from this diagnosis in prison.  Open access: https://lnkd.in/eiDuZH8c #ADHD #prison

In this blog post we explore the link between neurodivergence and Youth offending, and how greater understanding and support for Neurodivergent people is crucial, especially in large organisations such as the Civil Service, Police Force, NHS staff, and other large organisations which deal with people on a day to day basis #autism #neurodivergence #actuallyautistic #adhd #youthoffending #neurodivergent #inclusion https://lnkd.in/efyihYrf