To me, this smacks of the MRSA problem the NHS (UK) had.

MRSA is an antibiotic resistant bacterial skin infection people can get and people were getting them in UK hospital. It does happen in hospitals but the rates of infection were too consistently high at the time because they weren't catching outbreaks soon enough and when they did, they didnt act soon enough.

After the public and news groups became aware of the problem, reforms were promised. An investigation showed that new, improved reporting measures should fix the problem. When they implemented the policies from the investigation and improved their reporting practices, you'll never guess what, reported cases of MRSA went up!

What a surprise.

If you had continued the trend lines from that, then I'm sure you can guess the kind of inflated "top end" figures you'd end up at.

I mean, there might turn out to be a problem but you also have to account for improvements in reporting standards.

The real problem is, improvements in reporting standards and improvements in interdepartmental coordination is boring as fuck! Who wants to read about that?

Forssmed said some of the explanations that have been floated include “increased awareness among healthcare professionals, schools and the public (and) broader diagnosis criteria”.

This seems like a likely explanation to me - ADHD awareness has exploded in recent years.

I wouldn't be surprised if 15% of the population had ADHS. I'm also convinced it's not really a disorder, but a different wiring in the brain that is (or was, in prehistoric times) beneficial in a lot of ways.
People with ADHS can achieve an impressive level of focus, determination and endurance if an activity interests them, can find creative solutions to problems because they think differently, and function better under a certain type of stress.
IMO they'd make great stone age hunters.

The problem is, our modern society doesn't fit their mindset at all, so they suffer in it and need medication and therapy to function in today's world.