Toronto, CANADA – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can have negative consequences for mental health into adulthood. A nationally representative Canadian study reported that the prevalence of lifetime suicide attempts was much higher in women who had ADHD (24%) compared to women who did not (3%). Men with ADHD were also more likely to attempt suicide compared to men without ADHD (9% vs. 2%).
“ADHD casts a very long shadow. Even when we took into account the history of mental illness and the highest levels of poverty and early adversity that adults with ADHD often experience, those with ADHD still had 56%. more likely to have attempted suicide than their peers without ADHD, ”said lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, a professor at the Factor-Inwentash School of Social Work at the University of Toronto and director of the Institute. for the Course of Life and Aging.
Because ADHD is more common among men than among women, little research or clinical care has focused on women with this disorder. In this study, women with ADHD had more than twice the probability of suicide attempts compared to men with ADHD.
“Our finding that one in four Canadian women with ADHD had attempted suicide highlights the urgency of providing adequate lifelong mental health support to this vulnerable and abandoned group,” said Lauren Carrique, recently graduated with a master’s degree in social work from the University of Toronto. (MSW) who is a social worker at Toronto General Hospital.
Adults with ADHD who had been exposed to chronic domestic violence from their parents were three times more likely to attempt suicide compared to their peers with ADHD who had not experienced this childhood adversity. Parental domestic violence was defined as “chronic” if it had occurred more than ten times before the respondent was 16 years old.
“The cross-sectional nature of this study prohibits our ability to determine possible causation; the relationship between chronic parental domestic violence and suicide attempts could flow in any direction,” said co-author Raphaël Nahar Rivière, a medical resident at University anesthesiology. of Toronto.
“We speculate that violent parental conflicts can cause extreme stress to the child with ADHD and predispose these individuals to mental illness and suicidal thoughts. In addition, the challenges of raising a child with ADHD who has serious mental health problems can cause parental conflict., which can turn into domestic violence. ”
The study examined a nationally representative sample of 21,744 Canadians, of whom 529 reported being diagnosed with ADHD. Data were extracted from the Canadian Community Health-Mental Health Survey.
“The disturbing prevalence of suicide attempts among people with ADHD underscores the importance of health professionals examining patients with ADHD to detect mental illness and suicidal thoughts,” said co-author Senyo Agbeyaka, a recent graduate of the University of Toronto in MSW and social worker at Xarxa Sanitària Universitària.
“Knowing that women with ADHD who have experienced childhood and adult adversity with a history of substance dependence and / or depression are particularly vulnerable to suicide attempts, we hope they will help physicians improve their targeting and dissemination. population “.
###
The paper was published online this month in the journal Archives of Suicide Investigation.
Article Details: “The Dark Side of ADHD: Factors Associated with Suicide Attempts Among Those with ADHD in a Canadian National Representative Sample” by Esme Fuller-Thomson, Raphaël Nahar Rivière, Lauren Carrique, and Senyo Agbeyaka Archives of Suicide Research
DOI manuscript: 10.1080 / 13811118.2020.1856258
A copy of the document is available to accredited journalists upon request. Contact [email protected].
For more information:
Esme Fuller-Thomson (lead author of the study)
Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
Director, Institute for Life Course & Aging
University of Toronto
Tel: 416 209-3231
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! is not responsible for the accuracy of press releases posted on EurekAlert. through collaborating institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.