Psychostimulants and psychiatrists: the Trent Adult Psychiatry Psychostimulant Survey

Abstract

This study reports upon the results of a postal questionnaire survey of 107 adult psychiatrists which investigated their current use of psychostimulant pharmacotherapy and their attitudes towards the diagnostic status of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adulthood. Of the 88 respondents, only a minority of 11 (12.5%) used psychostimulants in their usual practice, albeit very infrequently (one or two prescriptions per year on average). Methylphenidate hydrochloride (‘Ritalin’) was the prescribers’ most popular agent and ‘narcolepsy’ was the most frequently cited clinical indication for psychostimulants. ADHD appeared to represent only a very small area of current clinical activity and a minority of clinicians expressed the view that it did not exist in adults. It is concluded that psychostimulant therapy is relatively undeveloped in British adult psychiatry and that the clinical speciality generally appears to be unprepared for the growing numbers of adolescents with ADHD who are currently managed by child psychiatrists and who may require ongoing psychiatric care, including psychostimulant therapy.

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