After decades of providing treatment for ADHD adults I've come to the conclusion that ADHD is one of the most disabling mental health disorders. In some ways ADHD can be as devastating to a person's life as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. While ADHD is highly prevalent among adults its manifestations are typically subtle. As a result, symptoms are attributed to incidental factors and the nature of the person's condition remains hidden.

The article does a good job of addressing factors that contribute to ADHD-linked disability, and ways to deal with them. Clearly underdiagnosis sums up the primary issue. Solving a problem starts with recognizing the problem exists. However the article didn't discuss an important reason ADHD is overlooked, that is, widespread tremendous bias against recognizing the realities of adult ADHD.

Reducing the burden of ADHD via social approaches faces a major challenge: how to inform or educate the public about realities of ADHD throughout the life cycle. While there has been marginal improvement over the last 25 years, prejudice or misunderstanding remain predominant.

IMO the place to start is with the provider community. Healthcare practitioners need training to recognize ADHD among comorbidities and participate in its management. Once providers are actively advocating appropriate treatment for ADHD patients, family members, et. al., will likely follow clinicians' lead, become more amenable to helping ADHD individuals.

Economic costs of ADHD are substantial. Reports give estimates that of $143 to $246 billion/year in the US alone.[0] If nothing else these figures illustrate the potential benefits of providing proper care to adults with ADHD.

[0] https://www.jaacap.org/article/S0890-8567(12)00538-2/abstrac...