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ADHD has real health effects (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by BeefPiano@lemmy.world to c/adhd@lemmy.world

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Compared to other killers from a public health standpoint, ADHD is bad. Smoking, for example, reduces life expectancy by 2.4 years, and if you smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day you're down about 6.5 years. For diabetes and obesity it's a couple of years. For elevated blood cholesterol, it's 9 months. ADHD is worse than the top 5 killers in the U.S. combined.

Having ADHD costs a person nearly thirteen years of life, on average. Barkley adds, And that's on top of all the findings of a greater risk for accidental injury and suicide....About two-thirds of people with ADHD have a life expectancy reduced by up to 21 years.

This is from Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey in their book ADHD 2.0

Here is some more background on the research

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[-] cyberfae@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago

Something I haven't seen mentioned here is stress. Stress is highly unlikely to kill you directly, but it exacerbates ADHD traits in a negative way. It also exacerbates just about every other mental and physical condition. Living in a world not built for us is extremely stressful, it's even worse in those of us who aren't diagnosed or have to live with inadequate accommodations.

In addition to stress, there is a link between ADHD and higher suicide rates. We often have comorbid conditions like depression, anxiety, complex PTSD, bipolar, and PMDD. That and, again, living in a world not built for us is extremely hard, some of us just can't handle it.

Sources:

this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2023

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