The waiting time for an ADHD diagnosis is one of the biggest challenges in the Danish healthcare system today. Thousands of adult Danes wait for months – and in some cases several years – to have their ADHD diagnosed. This has far-reaching consequences for their well-being, working life and quality of life.

Waiting times vary drastically across the country

According to the Danish Health Authority, the average waiting time for practicing psychiatrists in the period 2022-2023 was 19.4 weeks for adults. However, behind this figure are large regional differences and significant variations depending on which psychiatrist you are referred to.

In 2023, the ADHD Association documented that the waiting time for an assessment had increased to up to 84 weeks – almost 20 months. This dramatic increase comes on top of an already stressful situation, where the waiting time had doubled in just one year. A study by Politiken in October 2025 showed even more alarming figures: For most practicing psychiatrists, the waiting time is now more than two years, and in some places it exceeds five years.

IN North Jutland Region The situation was particularly critical, with waiting times of up to 192 weeks for young people and 170 weeks for children in July 2025. However, confusion later arose about the figures when the region admitted that the stated waiting times were misleading. The actual average waiting time was 173 days – still significantly above the legal requirement, but significantly shorter than the stated 173 weeks.

IN Region of Southern Denmark has responded to the long waiting times by establishing new ADHD clinics targeting adults with mild to moderate ADHD. The first clinic opened in Grindsted in late summer 2025. The region has also entered into new agreements with practicing psychiatrists to increase capacity.

The legal requirement of a 30-day investigation is rarely complied with

Although patients are legally entitled to be assessed within 30 days of referral to psychiatry, this right is far from always fulfilled. The National Audit Office pointed out in a critical report that around 70 percent of the courses in child and adolescent psychiatry did not comply with the statutory 30 days. The situation is no better for adults, where the average assessment time in 2022 had increased to 115 days – almost four times longer than the legal requirement.

When the waiting time exceeds 30 days, the region must offer the patient an assessment at another public or private hospital through the expanded free hospital choice. In practice, however, this right is difficult to exercise, as private hospitals and practicing psychiatrists also often have long waiting lists.

Why are the waiting times so long?

The primary reason for the long wait times is a significant increase in demand for psychiatric treatment, especially for ADHD. The Danish Health Authority documented that the number of users of ADHD medication increased by 85 percent for adults between 2020 and 2023. In 2024, the increase was a whopping 24 percent compared to the previous year.

There is a particularly strong increase among women. While over 60 percent of ADHD medication users ten years ago were men, in 2024 there was actually a slight preponderance of women – 66,730 women compared to 66,560 men. Among adult women under 30, the number of users has more than doubled in ten years.

The increased demand is combined with a shortage of specialists in psychiatry. The Medical Association's demand analysis shows that there is a shortage of 444 specialists in psychiatry across the country. At the same time, practicing psychiatrists prioritize patients with acute symptoms such as anxiety and depression, while patients with suspected ADHD often have to wait longer.

The consequences of long waiting times

Waiting months or years for an ADHD diagnosis has serious consequences. The ADHD Association reports that patients experience a worsening of their condition during the waiting period, develop additional difficulties such as anxiety and depression, have difficulty completing education and are on sick leave from their jobs. For many, family life is also negatively affected.

Untreated ADHD in adults is associated with an increased risk of mental and physical comorbidity, lower educational attainment and work capacity, and an increased risk of accidents and substance abuse. Many adults with undiagnosed ADHD have struggled with general distress and significant functional impairment throughout their childhood. Self-medication with alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs is common among untreated ADHD sufferers.

Research shows that late diagnosis increases the risk of psychiatric comorbidity and substance abuse, while early diagnosis increases the likelihood of employment. This emphasizes the importance of prompt assessment and treatment.

Private alternatives with shorter waiting times

For those who cannot or do not want to wait for the public system, there are private alternatives. Several private psychiatric clinics offer ADHD assessment with significantly shorter waiting times – often 1-2 weeks for the first consultation.

The price for a private examination varies, but is typically between DKK 12,000 and DKK 27,000, depending on the clinic's examination package. Some clinics offer particularly fast courses, where the entire examination can be completed in 1-2 weeks. Package courses that combine examination and treatment typically cost between DKK 20,000 and DKK 32,000.

Although the price is a barrier for many, more and more people are choosing the private route to avoid the long waiting times in the public system.

What can you do while you wait?

If you are waiting for an investigation in the public system, there are several things you can do to improve your situation:

Seek knowledge and understanding: Read books, watch videos, and follow trusted sources about ADHD. The more you understand about ADHD, the better equipped you will be to manage your symptoms and navigate the evaluation process. The ADHD Association offers valuable resources and information on their website.

Create structure in everyday life: Use a paper calendar or digital reminders to keep track of appointments and tasks. Establish regular routines for sleep, meals, and activities. Break large tasks into smaller, manageable parts.​

Prioritize physical and mental health: Regular exercise can reduce stress and improve concentration. A healthy diet, adequate sleep, and limiting alcohol and caffeine support brain function.​

Talk to someone: Share your challenges with friends, family or a support group. The ADHD Association offers online group sessions for people waiting for an assessment. Telephone counselling is also available at 53 72 99 00.

Seek psychological help: Even if you don't have a diagnosis yet, a psychologist can help you understand your symptoms and develop coping strategies. Cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoeducation are key parts of ADHD treatment, and these don't necessarily require an official diagnosis.​

Prepare for the investigation: Write down your symptoms, gather information about your childhood from parents or siblings, and think about how ADHD has affected different areas of your life. This can make the assessment interviews more productive.

Policy measures to reduce waiting times

The government and the parties in the Danish Parliament have adopted a comprehensive 10-year plan for psychiatry with a historic boost of 4.6 billion kroner towards 2030. The plan focuses, among other things, on better help for people with ADHD and autism, where waiting times are currently too long.

As part of the plan, a proposal will be prepared on how efforts for ADHD and autism can be strengthened across sectors. The proposal will build on existing guidelines and course descriptions and ensure that the efforts are adapted to both children, young people and adults.

Several regions have also taken local initiatives. The Region of Southern Denmark has allocated DKK 10 million annually for new ADHD clinics, expanded the capacity of practicing psychiatrists and entered into new financial agreements that make it more attractive for psychiatrists to take in more patients. The Region of North Jutland has entered into an agreement with Hejmdal Private Hospital to help with assessment courses for at least 55 children and young people each month.

The way forward

Waiting times for ADHD assessments are a systemic problem that requires both short-term and long-term solutions. In the short term, increased capacity among practicing psychiatrists, collaboration with private providers, and better resource utilization can help. In the longer term, more specialists in psychiatry are needed, better cross-sectoral collaboration, and more easily accessible treatment options in municipalities.

For the individual waiting for an assessment, it is important to remember that help is available – both through the ADHD Association, private psychologists and your own coping strategies. Although the wait is frustrating and often unbearable, you can take steps to improve your situation today.

Research at both PhD and senior level is at most universities a responsibility that rests with the individual researcher. He or she must take responsibility for which path the research should take, how broad or narrow it should cover, and for the results that can ultimately be shown. Since it is the independence and autonomy that attracts many people to the researcher role, many discover along the way that it can also be challenging to have to make many decisions themselves, and that they could have wished for clearer guidelines. It is often unclear what is required of the researcher for the work effort to be 'good enough'. In addition, for research staff there are often fluid boundaries between working hours and free time.

The role of researcher can also be a lonely position. Some university departments have begun to form research groups that work together towards common goals. However, it is still common for a lone researcher to work alone on their projects.  This can create a tendency for isolation among some employees, and make it harder for colleagues and management to spot signs of declining well-being. In a work culture where employees feel they have to solve all their own challenges at work, and even have created them themselves, we see that talking about mistakes can be shameful. This can create unnecessary high levels of dissatisfaction and allow a problem to grow larger in an employee alone because it is not talked about openly and shared together. 

In a research position, it is also required that one can handle several functions within the same role. This can range from doing actual research work, to applying for funding, to supervising and teaching. The tension between these tasks, the time spent, and the pressure to perform on the most measurable parameters such as funding and research results, are experienced by many researchers as stressful. This can create a conflict between priorities and become an internal competition where on the one hand one wants to create motivating teaching, but also wants to live up to expectations regarding research results.

As a profession, the research role involves many of the typical elements that we know from the literature on the psychological work environment as undermining well-being and psychological security. With knowledge and insight at the department management level, there is, however, fertile ground for significant improvements from recent years' studies of the psychological work environment for both PhD students and  research staff as a whole. 

(Sources: Danish Association of Masters and PAND 2022, Danish Working Environment Authority 2021)

The relative neglects himself/herself

The majority of relatives in Denmark have a family member with a mental illness, while around a fifth are friends of a person with a mental illness. Relatives therefore become a broad term that includes everything from family to friends and covers both children and adults. Today, we know that it is important to involve relatives in the treatment of a person with a mental illness. However, it is less widely known that relatives of people with mental illness often experience a stress reaction themselves, such as stress, anxiety or depression. This may be because the relative does not take good enough care of themselves in the process. As a relative, it is normal to neglect themselves in favor of the person with a mental illness. When the relative puts their own needs first, many experience a guilty conscience creeping in.

The heavy sense of responsibility

The caregiver often has a great responsibility, as their loved ones need their support much more than before. As a result, many caregivers feel a great deal of pressure and a sense of responsibility that may seem overwhelming.

If you have never experienced having someone with a mental illness close to you before, it can be overwhelming. As a partner, you may feel very alone with all the practical things in the home, while at the same time having to mentally be there for the other person. Parents may experience a sense of guilt that their child has a mental illness, and feel a responsibility to find something that quickly ”works” for their child. In a study from Sweden in 2016, parents described feeling powerless. They experience an unavoidable sense of duty, as they feel as parents that they should of course help their child, while the possibilities for relief seem limited (Lindgren et al., 2016).

A common trait for lovers, parents, close family members and friends is that it can be difficult to navigate "losing" a loved one to a mental illness, and many find that they can do nothing about it, despite an enormous desire to be able to help. 

Mental breaks are important

It is important that you as a relative are aware that you do not have to completely remove the pain from your loved one to contribute to relief. A mental break from all the difficult things can also be soothing. Mental breaks do not always require much. For example, it can be that you remove the focus from the problematic things. This can happen through a shared activity or event such as a walk in the forest, a trip to the cinema or a board game. It is important that you plan other forms of socializing than just talking about the difficult things, despite the fact that you are going through a difficult period in your life.

At the same time, it is important that the relative continues to remember to care for their other relationships and leisure activities, even if it sometimes means that the person suffering has to wait. You still have to fill your life with breaks and positive influences, which give you the opportunity to recharge your mental battery. This way you have the energy to process your own emotions and experiences. You also shouldn't have a bad conscience about, for example, feeling joy or having fun, as it is healthy for your mental immune system.

Speak up and strengthen the relationship

Relatives may also experience their boundaries being overstepped by their loved one with mental illness. Setting boundaries and standing up for them ensures that you continue to have a healthy relationship. Therefore, you should not be afraid to speak up in a proper way to the other person, but instead see it as an investment that can help both you and your loved one maintain a good and healthy relationship.

For example, it is okay to respectfully say that you cannot stand to be alone with the information the person in question is giving you, and therefore advise your loved one to also tell friends, lovers or family members, as this will ease your responsibility in the process.  

The importance of support for the relative

It can be difficult to put into words the role you have as a caregiver. You may feel that others have difficulty understanding what it is like to be a caregiver. You may feel ashamed that you are irritated by your loved one with mental health problems. But it is important that you talk to others about the experiences and feelings you have, so that you take care of yourself by creating an accessible support network to lean on. 

It is important to be aware that as a relative you are at risk of becoming psychologically stressed – either during the process or when the loved one has gotten better and you can let go of your role. It is crucial to be aware of your own role and take it seriously. 

A 2015 study conducted a systematic review of caregiver-focused interventions, including 21 controlled trials. The study found that caregiver-focused interventions improved caregiver experience and quality of life, as well as reduced psychological distress (Yesufu-Udechuku et al. 2015). Another study found that significant effects were seen after just 6 months when caregivers of people with mental health problems received psychological support themselves, compared to caregivers who did not receive psychological support (Polo-López et al., 2015). 

One in three Danes considers themselves to be a caregiver. One should not underestimate the psychological strain that a caregiver can experience during or after a period with a loved one who has a mental illness. Research shows that it can benefit caregivers to get help to handle this role, which for many can be difficult and mentally stressful. It is recommended that you take this strain seriously, allow time for breaks from the role, and ensure that you as a caregiver have a place to go for support and encouragement, such as a network of family and friends where you can talk openly and honestly about your experiences as a caregiver of someone who is mentally ill.  

When we talk about screen time, it is almost always in relation to children and young people's use of screens, the internet and social media. But what about the older generation, who are increasingly using smartphones, tablets and computers?

American research shows that the elderly's entry into the digital world has a number of benefits, but also entails risks – sometimes at the serious end of the spectrum.

SoMe and mental well-being

As older people become increasingly comfortable using digital communication channels and social media, research shows that older people experience less loneliness and social isolation as they can more easily connect with their family. Overall, older people find that using the internet can contribute to feelings of support and belonging – a contrast to feelings of loneliness.

However, there is a noticeable difference between the group of older people who have over 7+ hours of screen time per day and the group who spend less time in front of the screen. For the group with increased screen time, the correlation between screen time and low psychological well-being appears to be greater than is the case for young people with comparable time spent.

Older adults who spend more time on screens experience twice the risk of being diagnosed with anxiety or depression compared to older adults who spend only 1 hour on screens per day (Twenge & Campbelle, 2018). 

Passive or active use of SoMe is relevant

Another important aspect of screen time for older adults is the use of social media in particular. Whether they use social media actively or passively is relevant to their well-being. It turns out that it is the active approach that presents the greatest challenges.

Passive consumption of social media means that the elderly person looks at and scrolls through the content without having a direct interaction with others. Active consumption, on the other hand, means that the elderly person engages in the content and creates direct contact with others – for example, by commenting on a picture.

While the assumption among many will certainly be that interaction and communication on social media is preferable for older people, research from Aging & Mental Health, that active social media use is associated with an increased likelihood of depressive symptoms, while passive use is associated with a reduced likelihood of depressive symptoms (Lewin et al., 2022). 

This contrasts with the findings from children and adolescents. The explanation for this remains unknown. However, a possible explanation could lie in the relationship between the groups that young people versus older people typically have active contact with via SoMe. In general, young people are often in physical or personal contact with the people they actively communicate with via social media, while older people are not always in daily physical or personal contact with those they actively communicate with via social media. SoMe contacts may be reserved for more peripheral acquaintances, or those who are geographically distant. Many older people have more frequent physical and personal contact with close acquaintances, where they meet or speak directly over the phone or text message. Here, the relationship with their near and dear ones may be based on more personal and direct communication, where SoMe acquaintances are more distant and less built on trust. In young people, a larger percentage of communication with close acquaintances typically takes place via social media in addition to having contact in more private forms such as physical meetings at school or phone calls. There may therefore be a possible difference in the relationship the younger generation has with SoMe contacts, compared to the older generation. .

The brain needs breaks

Older people spend more time in front of screens than before. For the older generation, screen time stands in stark contrast to the activities that used to fill their days. Many would have spent their time on physical activities such as gardening, home maintenance, crafts or regular exercise. These are pursuits that, unlike technological activities, would give the brain a break from constant stimuli and new visual impressions.  

Screen use requires continuous processing of new input, and therefore cognitive resources are used for this purpose. This means that it draws resources from processing, among other things, emotional content. For example, if you go to repair your car, you will have the cognitive surplus to simultaneously process an unpleasant episode down at the club, but this will not be the case when using social media, as this activity requires other cognitive resources. For many, screen addiction and social media can lead to an accumulation of unresolved emotional content, which in the long run can be a breeding ground for a more general state of, for example, depression or tension. This is something that is more noticeable in relation to young screen users, but a trend that is at least as relevant for older screen users. 

Face-to-face contact is preferable

Although the Internet and screen use can contribute to the elderly's contact with family, friends and acquaintances, there is a downside to excessive screen time. In addition to a lack of emotional processing, in SoMe interaction we miss out on important face-to-face contact that can have a calming and soothing effect on our nervous system. Our brain perceives many nonverbal signals when interacting with another person. These can be small nuances in a facial expression, tone of voice, body language and mood in the room. Care and presence conveyed by another person through these nonverbal signals can increase our psychological security, well-being and mental health. It is therefore important that all generations, including the older generation, experience physical face-to-face contact, as it reduces signs of depression and anxiety compared to digital contact.

The use of screens by the elderly is therefore at least as important to be aware of as the screen use of children and young people, as research suggests that in some cases they are more severely affected mentally by excessive screen use than children and young people.

Literature list: 

• Twenge, MJ & Campbell, KW (2018). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211335518301827

• Kaitlin M. Lewin, Dar Meshi, Amy M. Schuster & Shelia R. Cotten (2022) Active and passive social media use are differentially related to depressive symptoms in older adults, Aging & Mental Health, DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2022.2068133 

Entry

Go through the gate, into the courtyard and then the first door on the left. The door is unlocked.

Parking

If you are driving, parking is easiest in Navitas. From here you can cross from Kystvejen to Mejlgade by the BUPL house.

Light rail and bus

The nearest light rail stop is Nørreport.

The nearest bus stop is Nørregade or Navitas/Kystvejen.

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