Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with a higher incidence of depression, anorexia or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a risk of suicide attempts, a new study has found.
A neurodevelopmental condition, ADHD is a pattern of hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsive behavior that interferes with daily functioning or development.
People with ADHD were 30% more likely to attempt suicide and 9% more likely to develop major depression, according to the study, which could only show associations and not prove direct cause and effect. After those with ADHD developed depression, they were 42% more likely to attempt to take their own life.
“ADHD and suicidal behavior share common genetic factors that may reflect genetic variants associated with impulsivity, a highly heritable trait,” said study lead author Dennis Freuer, statistician and professor of epidemiology at the University of Augsburg in Germany.
“Impulsivity is a core component of ADHD and is closely associated with suicidal behavior. Our study suggests that both ADHD and major depressive disorder are risk factors for suicide attempt,” Freuer said via email.
Living with ADHD was also associated with an 18% greater chance of developing PTSD after trauma. If the person had both ADHD and depression, the risk of PTSD would increase by 67%.
Eating disorders associated with ADHD
The study also found a direct link between ADHD and anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder characterized by a distorted body image, an intense fear of weight gain and dangerously low body weight.
People with the disease go to extreme lengths to avoid gaining pounds, including “vomiting after eating or from the misuse of laxatives, diet aids, diuretics or enemas, according to the Mayo Clinic website.
However, “anorexia has nothing to do with food,” noted Mayo. “It is an extremely unhealthy and sometimes fatal way of trying to deal with emotional problems. When you have anorexia, you often equate thinness with self-esteem.”
Contrary to the study’s findings on suicide and PTSD, the new research showed no association between major depression and the development of anorexia. Rather, “the increased risk of anorexia nervosa can be attributed entirely to ADHD,” said Freuer.
Why would this happen? Because the two conditions share “neurocognitive deficits” that center on a lack of impulse control, Freuer said.
“Impulsivity, for example, is a hallmark symptom of ADHD and is thought to arise from abnormalities in the brain’s neural pathways that govern reward and impulse inhibition,” said ADHD physician James Greenblatt, chief medical officer at Walden Behavioral Care. in Waltham, Massachusetts by email. He was not involved in the study.
Overall, the new study’s results weren’t surprising, as it’s well known that ADHD is often associated with other mental illnesses, said Greenblatt, who has written books on how to personalize treatment for children with ADHD, binge eating, food addiction and more. . However, she added, an ADHD diagnosis does not “guarantee” specific future outcomes.
“Having ADHD does not make depression (or other mental disorders) inevitable. What it does, however, is ‘stack’ the deck of cards we’re dealt — cards like genetics, biochemistry, lifestyle, environment and psychology — in ways that make certain outcomes, like depression, more likely.” he said.
Source: CNN Brasil
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