It's also just a medication thing. Almost anyone can complain to their family doctor (medical, not psych) they have difficulty concentrating and get a prescription for meds without receiving an ADD/ADHD diagnosis. My dad just did that and he's 64. I assume it's just old man winding down and riding out a job he's no longer passionate about syndrome. When my parents wanted to know why my grades plunged in high school (I just stopped doing busy work, home work, and most papers besides tests because I was miserable), I talked to a therapist who just went down the DSM criteria in front of me and I answered yes or no. I was diagnosed with mild to moderate ADD, but never did anything about it, but the process in many places is apparently that simple anyone can meet the criteria. He never addressed how I was unhappy with a few things and coping by checking out of all my responsibilities, and my parents wanted the easy answer so that's presumably a factor in overdiagnosis too. I imagine a lot of these people who aren't as smart as they thought they were when faced with hard academic work also want an easy answer that isn't "improve your study habits"