“What is really important to remember is that a reduced life expectancy is not inherent to ADHD, but could occur where a person experiences adversity and doesn’t receive the support they need,” says senior study author Joshua Stott, PhD, a professor of aging and clinical psychology at University College London.
ADHD Shortened Life Expectancy From 7 to 9 Years
For the study, researchers followed more than 30,000 adults with ADHD and more than 300,000 adults without this condition for roughly two decades starting when they were typically in their late teens or early twenties.
During the study, a total of 193 males with ADHD died — a mortality rate about 89 percent higher than men without ADHD. Similarly, a total of 148 females with ADHD died, for a mortality rate more than twice as high as for women without ADHD, according to findings reported in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Life expectancy with ADHD was about seven years shorter for men and about nine years shorter for women, the study found.
Many Adults With ADHD Go Undiagnosed
One big caveat to the findings is that researchers only looked at individuals with diagnosed ADHD, which may not reflect what would happen for the vast majority of people living with this condition who lack a formal diagnosis, Dr. Stott says.
People without a formal ADHD diagnosis may have lower support needs and be less likely to experience a shorter life expectancy as result of living with this condition, Stott adds.
Why ADHD May Shorten Life Expectancy
The study also wasn’t designed to prove whether or how ADHD might directly decrease lifespan.
“It may not be ADHD itself that’s the culprit for lowered life expectancy, but instead the risk for educational underattainment, job instability, ruined relationships, poor health habits, and consequences of demoralization and lowered self-image that can accumulate to lead to shorter lives,” says Stephen Hinshaw, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of California in Berkeley, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
That’s because even though some challenges that people with ADHD experience during childhood can subside over time, it’s not uncommon for issues with things like focus and self-regulation to persist into adolescence or adulthood, Dr. Hinshaw says.
How to Reduce ADHD’s Impact
The key to minimizing the potential for ADHD to reduce longevity is early diagnosis and treatment, says Max Wiznitzer, MD, a professor of pediatric neurology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, who wasn’t involved in the new study.
“Earlier diagnosis has the potential to avoid the effect on life expectancy if it leads to interventions that result in good habit behaviors and avoidance of bad habit behaviors,” Dr. Wiznitzer says. A combination of medication to improve symptoms and behavioral therapy can help minimize the negative impact of ADHD on longevity.
No matter when they get diagnosed, it’s important for people with ADHD to recognize they have a lifelong chronic condition that may have shifting symptoms over time, Wiznitzer says.
“ADHD symptoms can fluctuate in severity, depending on age and on environmental stressors,” Wiznitzer says. “So do not be lulled into complacency that it has disappeared and cannot affect future functioning.”