5 Surprising facts about ADHD
Perhaps the title should be "5 Surprising facts about untreated ADHD”, as a lot of the studies that follow acknowledge that when people get treatment for ADHD the findings diminish significantly.
1. ADHD and risk of accidents: People with ADHD are at a much higher risk of accidents across the lifespan. Ranging from burns, accidental ingestion and poisonings in children, as well as traffic and workplace accidents in adults. The study also notes that medication reduces the likelihood that people with ADHD have these accidents. (Brunkhorst-Kanaan et al., 2021)
2. Medication reduces risks of drug abuse, criminal behavior, and suicidality: This one shocked me quite a bit. The idea seems to be that medication reduces impulsivity, and impulsivity leads to more aggressive behavior, risk taking, and so forth. Thus, reducing impulsivity leads to a drop in criminality, drug abuse, and suicidality among people with ADHD. (Zhang et al., 2025)
3. ADHD and obesity. Adults with ADHD have about a 70% higher risk of obesity, and children 40% higher risk than their non-ADHD counterparts. Why is still a mystery, although some potential explanations include impulsivity leading to poor dietary choices and binge eating, as well as some genetic factors. ADHD treatment appears to make a meaningful difference, but it does not return the risk to baseline. (Cortese, 2019)
4. ADHD and reduced life expectancy. People with ADHD have a lower life expectancy by about 7 years. This ties into the previous ones. Folks with ADHD have a higher risk of death as a result of accidents, suicide, and substance abuse, obesity, and among other factors (O’Nions et al., 2025).
5. ADHD carries an increased risk of dementia: About a 2.9x risk of dementia, and a 6.2x risk of mild cognitive impairment. Why is still unknown, but assumed to be some combination of biological, social, and ADHD specific behavioral reasons. There seems to be a concern that ADHD brains degrade faster than non ADHD brains. Interestingly, taking prescribed stimulants may be a protective factor (Golimstok & Berrios, 2025)
References:
Brunkhorst-Kanaan, N., Libutzki, B., Reif, A., Larsson, H., McNeill, R. V., & Kittel-Schneider, S. (2021). ADHD and accidents over the life span – a systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 125, 582–591. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.02.002
Cortese, S. (2019). The association between ADHD and obesity: Intriguing, progressively more investigated, but still puzzling. Brain Sciences, 9(10), 256. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci9100256
Golimstok, A., & Berrios, W. (2025). Adult ADHD as a risk factor for dementia: integrating longitudinal evidence, mechanistic insights, and the role of stimulant treatment. Frontiers in dementia, 4, 1735357. https://doi.org/10.3389/frdem.2025.1735357
O’Nions, E., Céline El Baou, John, A., Lewer, D., Mandy, W., McKechnie, D. G. J., Petersen, I., & Stott, J. (2025). Life expectancy and years of life lost for adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK: Matched cohort study. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.2024.199
Zhang, Le, Zhu, N., Arvid Sjölander, Mikail Nourredine, Li, L., Garcia-Argibay, M., Ralf Kuja-Halkola, Brikell, I., Lichtenstein, P., D’Onofrio, B. M., Larsson, H., Cortese, S., & Chang, Z. (2025). ADHD drug treatment and risk of suicidal behaviours, substance misuse, accidental injuries, transport accidents, and criminality: Emulation of target trials. BMJ, 390. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2024-083658
—
Practical Details
Location: In-person in Baldwin Park, available virtually throughout FL.
Format: Individual therapy only
Approach: Psychodynamic, depth-oriented
Payment: Private pay, (sliding scale may be available); credit card, debit card, HSA, cash
Specialties: Depression, Anxiety, Addictions, Veterans, and Men’s Issues
— Nick Sterling, MA | Real Counseling Orlando | ADHD therapist in Orlando