Adrian Chiles has revealed his fears for himself and wife Katharine Viner who ‘has to live with him’ amid the UK’s shortage of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) attention medication.
The broadcaster, 56, who was diagnosed with the behavioural disorder, that typically begins in childhood and is defined by a short attention span and poor impulse control, in 2016 and said the idea of not having his daily treatment for symptoms seemed ‘horrific’.
Adrian told The Mirror: ‘I can’t bring myself to engage in it, because the prospect of not getting any more of the stuff I’m on called Elvanse, which seems likely, is horrific’.
The TV star, who has been married to journalist Katherine since 2022, went on: ‘It’s horrific for myself and it certainly is for my wife who has got to live with me’.
According to the NHS website, the nation wide shortage, due to demand post pandemic, is expected to last until December, however dates could be subject to change.
Health concerns: Adrian Chiles has revealed his fears for himself and wife Katharine Viner who ‘has to live with him’ amid the UK’s shortage of ADHD medication
Scary: The broadcaster, 56, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2016, said the idea of not having his daily treatment for symptoms seemed ‘horrific’ (wife Katharine Viner pictured)
Elvanse improves activity in parts of the brain which are under-active, the medicine can help improve attention, concentration and reduce impulsive behaviour.
Last year Adrian said he reevaluated his beliefs regarding the efficiency of professional ADHD care after discovering some sufferers face a desperate five year wait for treatment.
He was diagnosed after having already spent thousands of pounds on private healthcare and psychiatric treatment after being unable to ‘focus on anything’ for more than 15 seconds.
But his belief that ADHD was easily treated and widely diagnosed was tested during a meeting with a fellow sufferer.
Writing for The Guardian, Adrian said he was given a reality check while discussing the disorder with Henry Shelford ahead of the Global ADHD Conference.
He recalled: ‘I had long been holding a couple of opinions that, thanks to him, I don’t hold any more. Firstly, I had developed a sense that, from being wildly under-diagnosed, ADHD had now gone the other way and was being diagnosed and treated left, right and centre.
‘I was wrong – wrong because I had been seeing it through the prism of my own experience: essentially, that I had been able to pay to see a specialist. For everyone else, Shelford made clear, it’s a very long wait.
‘And the stakes can be very high. The biggest single donor to his charity is the family of a teenager who took their own life as, in the absence of treatment for ADHD, their world overwhelmed them.’
Frightening: He said: ‘I can’t bring myself to engage in it, because the prospect of not getting any more of the stuff I’m on called Elvanse, which seems likely, is horrific’
Health: The TV star, who has been married to journalist Katherine since 2022, went on: ‘It’s horrific for myself and it certainly is for my wife who has got to live with me’ (medication Elvanse pictured)
He added: ‘Unwelcome confirmation of all this came from an old schoolfriend of mine, a GP, at his surgery in the Midlands. He told me that the wait for a referral for adult ADHD on his patch stands at five years.’
However the presenter also admits that those without the financial reserves to pay for private care can shorten the wait for treatment through the NHS Right to Choose system, which assists referrals to different health authorities across the country.
Chiles also dismissed the commonly held belief that ADHD works to the sufferer’s advantage once they’ve learned to control their fragmented thought patterns.
He wrote: ‘Yes, if you can harness the chaotic torrents of thought, there is the potential for great things to be achieved.
‘But for every Heston Blumenthal… there are probably hundreds of budding chefs with the condition who, unlike Heston, never managed to make it work in their favour.’
If you have been affected by anything in this article, contact The National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service on 020 8952 280.
