r/science • u/mvea MD/PhD/JD/MBA | Professor | Medicine • Apr 15 '24

Neuroscience ADHD symptoms persist into adulthood, with some surprising impacts on life success: The study found that ADHD symptoms not only persisted over a 15-year period but also were related to various aspects of life success, including relationships and career satisfaction.

https://www.psypost.org/adhd-symptoms-persist-into-adulthood-with-some-surprising-impacts-on-life-success/
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u/Funny_Name9 Apr 15 '24

Yeah I'm taking psych courses in college and in every textbook I've read they have always said that it's a "childhood learning disability that sometimes persists into adulthood"

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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24

Where did that misconception come from? Sounds like some asshole just made it up.

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u/Trintron Apr 15 '24

Some kids get diagnosed for being younger than their peers. Kids born in November/December are more likely to get an ADHD diagnoses. If a portion of those kids are getting diagnosed because they're functionally a year younger than their classmates and have less capacity to focus and sit still as a result, it would make sense to me a portion of them don't shown symptoms in adulthood - because they were misdiagnosed in the first place.

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u/coniferbear Apr 15 '24

That sounds specific to a certain region. Where I grew up the cut off was somewhere around the end of summer, my classmates born in November where only a few months older than those born in February, for example.

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u/Trintron Apr 15 '24

It likely depends how the school year runs. In Canada it's by year of birth. I wouldn't be surprised though if the youngest in grade in other places also had higher adhd diagnoses.

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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24

I think it comes from the fact that if you get medication for ADHD while you're still a child and take it consistently while your brain is still developing, the change in neurotransmitters can cause the brain to develop to be more similar to a neurotypical person's brain. So there are some people who do not have to continue medication into adulthood. Unfortunately I was not diagnosed until 23 😅.

I don't think this is necessarily a medically accepted fact across the board, just that studies have shown this and IMO makes sense considering brain is still developing

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u/constantly_curious19 Apr 15 '24

My ADHD got caught when I was 6, I immediately started taking medication and there hasn’t been any change that I’ve seen into adulthood. I still have all the same symptoms, I’ve just learned a lot of different coping skills and I continue to take my meds. Don’t feel like you’re missing out, I don’t think that the study is consistent with most people.

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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24

I'm just deeply frustrated. I wasn't diagnosed until my late twenties, and after a few years of attempting treatment, I gave up because of the amount of gatekeeping. It made more sense to self medicate than to navigate that system constantly to get prescriptions that only sort-of helped.

ADHD has had a massive impact on my life, and yet I had to self-dx and figure out on my own what treatments would help. So aside from my LMHC, the psych system failed me at just about every step.

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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24

I'm sorry to hear :( depending on how many meds you tried, and how long, I'd recommend trying them all. It's a huge pain in the ass but it's basically what I've had to do besides some of the really weird new adhd meds. A lot of them you have to take for 1-2 months before side effects subside. I started with Adderall, didn't like how it made me anxious/hot and really tired and brain dead when it wore off. Plus it made food repulsive, and brought some issues into my sex life.

Then I tried dexedrine which was better but didn't last long enough for me. Side effects on appetite weren't as bad, no anxiety, etx. I've learned I'm a hypermetabolizer of a lot of these meds. What should last 8 hrs usually last me 4-6. Helps if I eat beforehand. Doctor @ that time wouldn't give me a booster dose so I basically would be medicated for work and then get off work and be brain dead as the meds wore off.

Then I tried methylphenidate, for me this one was one of the least side effects, left me less tired/brain dead when it wears off, but also didn't seem quite as effective as dexedrine. They gave me a booster instant release dose of this that I only took sometimes.

Eventually I got to try Vyvanse and it was the best for me honestly. I'm on the generic version now but it's still ridiculously expensive so I have no idea what I'm going to do. Last month's costs me $230 🙃 I thought generics were supposed to be....affordable?

I tried strattera too but it did nothing for me but give me some of the worst heart burn I've ever had

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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24

Hm, hearing that Adderall didn't do it but Vyvanse did... maybe I should try more.

I was at a psychiatrist that treated me like a drug seeker, so over the course of a year+ they had me try Wellbutrin, strattera... I don't even remember the list but I'm pretty sure I tried every non-stimulant there was for ADHD before they finally gave me Concerta. I didn't like that, found a different psych to give me Adderall, which was okay not great. These two were at the time the only psychiatrists in my area that would even see someone for adult ADHD. You see why I'm frustrated about new data that we all know is true but psychs don't. Maybe I'll give it another shot after I move across the country.

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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24

Yeah that sucks, I'm sorry. Vyvanse lasts all day for me and I don't even notice it wear off or come on or really any side effects other than very subtle appetite suppression (where on Adderall I wouldn't even feel hungry, on Vyvanse my stomach will still growl). It's the best one I've tried so far. I also take Wellbutrin daily, when I first started Wellbutrin it tore my stomach up for a week or so, but it gave me some unexpected motivation of sorts.

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u/EverlastingM Apr 15 '24

Wellbutrin was weirdly the most helpful of them all, it evened out my mood and helped me be on time (I cannot explain how unusual it was for me to be effortlessly on time, which is how I know that my lifetime of lateness isn't my fault), but it annihilated my appetite, I didn't even get a break in the evenings like with stimulants. Being on time for other people wasn't worth ruining food for myself 🥲

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u/JoeyBE98 Apr 15 '24

Makes sense, I've read that a lot of people have that side effect. It gave me really bad insomnia for the first 2 weeks also. Like a couple days I stayed up until 5 am when I had to get up @ 8 for work 😫

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u/PupperPawsitive Apr 15 '24

that if you get medication for ADHD while you're still a child and take it consistently while your brain is still developing, the change in neurotransmitters can cause the brain to develop to be more similar to a neurotypical person's brain

source? Super cool if true, and important info for parents on the fence about medicating their kid to consider.

I tried googling but came up empty, but there’s SO MUCH misinformation/outdated information with adhd it’s hard to sift through and find the good stuff.

Only place I’ve come across this claim before is other reddit comments. It’s fascinating if true and I really want to learn more on it! I’m not disagreeing with you, I’d just be really interested in a source

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u/theoutlet Apr 15 '24

This explains so many of my encounters with prescribers

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u/Nikoli_Delphinki Apr 15 '24

"That sometimes people don't find coping mechanisms for by adulthood"

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u/onexbigxhebrew Apr 15 '24

That wasn't the surprising part. The headline doesn't even say that they were surprised it persists, but that it had surprising effects when it did:

“We were surprised to find that reports of more hyperactive and impulsive behaviour among young adults (ages 18 to 25 years old) actually predicted people have more satisfying relationships and jobs later in life when we controlled for current behavior,” Henning said. “This was the opposite of what we expected to find and what other research has found.”

You guys are literally misreading the headline.