When a medical condition suddenly starts to become more common, it’s fair to assume that’s not a great sign—it usually means more people are getting sick. But when I asked experts about pandemic-era increases in diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), they told me it wasn’t so black-and-white.

There are some potentially concerning explanations for the apparent spike in ADHD. The pandemic may have exacerbated concentration issues, social media posts may be misleading some people into thinking they have ADHD, or the rise of telehealth may be contributing to rampant over-diagnosis. But there’s also an encouraging potential explanation, experts told me.

For decades, clinicians thought of ADHD as a condition that primarily affects young boys, which caused many girls and adults to slip through the cracks. The current rise in diagnoses could be a sign that doctors are, at last, recognizing that people of any background can be affected—and deserve appropriate treatment.

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