“ADHD can reduce life expectancy by as much as 13 years, but its risk is reversible.”
Dr. Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
Accurate diagnosis and more thoughtful treatment.
ADHD may drastically shorten a person’s life expectancy. Its impact may be more significant than any other single health threat, including weight, nutrition, exercise, sleep duration, smoking, alcohol use, and risky driving.
This revelation comes from a study entitled Hyperactive Child Syndrome and Estimated Life Expectancy at Young Adult Follow-Up: The Role of ADHD Persistence and Other Potential Predictors by Russell A. Barkley and Mariellen Fischer, published in the Journal of Attention Disorders.
In How ADHD Affects Life Expectancy, published in Attitude Magazine, he writes…
The good news? Most of the ADHD-related factors impacting life expectancy — impulsivity, risky behavior, and inattention, to name a few — are changeable. Behavioral programs designed to improve overall health will improve life expectancy as well, but only if ADHD symptoms are under control first, Barkley says. And that requires more accurate diagnosis and more thoughtful treatment.
Because ADHD causes underlying problems with inhibition, self-regulation, and conscientiousness, leaving the condition untreated or insufficiently treated will cause most patients to fail in their efforts to live healthier lives. For diagnosed patients, physicians must focus on reducing impulsivity and behavioral inhibition problems with medication or cognitive behavioral interventions. Additionally, they must broaden their assessment lens to acknowledge that patients who fail repeatedly at self-change programs should be evaluated for underlying ADHD.