Neurodivergence - The Cost of Not Being Counted
Why Scotland’s neurodivergence statistics are a lie, and a weapon.
We talk a lot about rising rates of ADHD and autism, about long waiting lists and overstretched services. But what nobody talks about is this: the data Scotland uses to define “need” for neurodivergent people is already corrupted. It’s skewed by access, by class, by masking—and by a system that refuses to see those who can’t afford to be seen.
You only show up in the stats if:
You can afford private assessment.
You’ve avoided full burnout.
You’re still functioning enough to push through the hoops.
But what if you don’t fit that mould?
What if you’re already broken by the years spent mislabelled, unsupported, overworking just to hold your life together? What if your family can’t help, and you’ve had to drop out of work altogether?
Then you don’t get assessed.
You don’t get medication.
You don’t get counted.
And worse, you’re used as proof that the system isn’t broken at all.
The Neurodivergent Catch-22 (Scottish Edition)
If you’re masking well, they don’t see you.
If you’re coping, they think you don’t need help.
If you’re burnt out, they say you’re too unstable to assess.
If you can’t afford private care, you’re left with nothing.
And if you’re not diagnosed, you don’t count in the stats.
So when, exactly, are we allowed to exist?
Weaponised Underreporting
In Aberdeenshire, as in many parts of Scotland, there is no NHS adult ADHD service. GPs often tell patients there’s no pathway. Referrals vanish. Services deflect responsibility. People are told they’re “just anxious,” “just depressed,” or “too complex” for diagnosis. Anything but neurodivergent.
Yet when funding decisions are made, the low diagnosis rates in these areas are used to justify even less support.
This is weaponised underreporting.
The absence of data, an absence caused by structural barriers and medical neglect, is treated as evidence that the need isn’t real.
It’s circular gaslighting at a national scale.
The Cost of Being Counted
A neurodivergent adult in Scotland is only likely to be diagnosed if they have:
A family who can fund their journey,
Or a stable job that hasn’t yet broken them.
These are the ones who appear in the stats.
But those who’ve lost everything, who can’t hold down work, who have burned out entirely, well, they are just erased.
The Aberdeenshire Joint Integration Board openly admitted they cannot support adults with ADHD without direct Scottish Government funding. They are not alone. Across Scotland, local boards are quietly declaring defeat, while Holyrood points to “overdiagnosis” and refuses to act.
So when the government says, “We don’t see a crisis,” what they mean is: We don’t count the people most affected.
They are invisible by design.
Left out of the numbers.
And blamed for not showing up.
Further Reading and References
BBC News: Cheaper Aberdeenshire autism and ADHD tests scheme to be assessed
Health and Care Scotland: Future of adult autism and ADHD assessments in doubt
Press and Journal: Aberdeenshire adult autism and ADHD test services faces axe
Change.org Petition: Save the NHS Grampian Autism and ADHD Assessment pathways
great stuff x