Toronto, CANADA – Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can have negative effects on mental health into adulthood. A nationally representative Canadian study reported that the lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts was much higher in women with ADHD (24%) compared with women without (3%). Men with ADHD were also more likely to have attempted suicide compared to men without ADHD (9% versus 2%).
“ADHD casts a very long shadow. Even when we consider the history of mental illness and the higher levels of poverty and early adversity that adults with ADHD often experience, those with ADHD are still 56% more likely to have attempted suicide than their peers without ADHD, ”reported 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 Life and Aging.
Because ADHD is more common in men than in women, little research or clinical attention has focused on women with the disorder. In this study, women with ADHD were more than twice as likely to attempt suicide compared to men with ADHD.
“Our finding that one in four Canadian women with ADHD attempted suicide highlights the urgency of providing adequate lifelong mental health support to this vulnerable and neglected group,” said Lauren Carrique, a recent graduate of the Master’s in Social Work. at the University of Toronto. (MSW) who is a social worker at Toronto General Hospital.
Adults with ADHD who were exposed to chronic parental domestic violence tripled their chances of attempted suicide compared to their colleagues with ADHD who did not experience that childhood adversity. Parental domestic violence was defined as “chronic” if it occurred more than 10 times before the respondent was 16 years old.
“The cross-cutting nature of this study prohibits our ability to determine possible causation; the relationship between chronic parental domestic violence and suicide attempts could flow in both directions,” said co-author Raphaël Nahar Rivière, a doctor who lives in anesthesia at the University. from Toronto.
“We speculate that violent parental conflict can cause extreme stress for the child with ADHD and predispose them to mental illness and suicidal thoughts. In addition, the challenges of raising a child with ADHD who face severe mental health problems can lead to parental conflict, which can lead to can turn into domestic violence. ”
The study examined a nationally representative sample of 21,744 Canadians, of whom 529 reported being diagnosed with ADHD. The data were extracted from the Canadian Community Mental Health Survey.
“The disturbing high prevalence of suicide attempts among people with ADHD underscores the importance of health professionals detecting patients with ADHD for mental illness and suicidal thoughts,” said co-author Senyo Agbeyaka, a recent MSW graduate from the University of Toronto. , who is a social worker at the University Health Network.
Knowing that women with ADHD who have experienced adversity in childhood and adults with a history of substance abuse and / or depression are particularly vulnerable to suicide attempts, we hope they will help clinicians improve their targeting and awareness.
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The paper was published online this month in the journal Suicide investigation archives.
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
Manuscript DOI: 10.1080 / 13811118.2020.1856258
A copy of the paper is available to accredited journalists upon request. We kindly request you to 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]
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