A study published recently in The British Journal of Psychiatry found that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD is associated with shorter life expectancy and increased risk of reporting mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, self-harm, personality disorders and even suicide.
In more detail, it is a neurological disorder that is commonly diagnosed during an individual’s childhood but can frequently extend into adulthood. Experts explain that people with ADHD have imbalanced neurotransmitters, including dopamine, which plays a pivotal role in the prefrontal cortex of the brain as it regulates executive function and self-regulatory abilities. These involve planning, maintaining attention, remembering instructions, and the ability to organize on multiple levels commonly referred to as multitasking.
To reach this conclusion, experts from UCL Psychology & Language Sciences and Bradford Institute for Health Research analyzed a sample of more than 30,000 ADHD sufferers in the United Kingdom.
This research, compared to previous ones, is the first to focus on the analysis of mortality rates, caused by this condition. As the study shows, men diagnosed with ADHD had a reduction in life expectancy from 4 ½ years to nine years, while women’s life expectancy was reduced by 6 ½ years to 11 years.
“Although many people with ADHD live long and healthy lives, our finding that on average they are living shorter lives than they should indicates that support needs to treat the disorder still remain unmet,” said study lead author Dr. Liz O’Nions, honorary research fellow in clinical, educational and health psychology at University College London. “It is critical to uncover the reasons behind premature deaths so that we can develop strategies to prevent them in the future.”
