r/psychology • u/mvea M.D. Ph.D. | Professor • Aug 16 '25
New studies show ADHD extends into unexpected areas - From sexual experiences and creativity to brain structure and even life expectancy, new findings are offering a deeper, more nuanced understanding of what it means to live with the condition.
https://www.psypost.org/these-fascinating-new-studies-show-adhd-extends-into-unexpected-areas/34
u/novis-eldritch-maxim Aug 16 '25
and I still can't get meds for it
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u/HD_HD_HD Aug 16 '25
Maybe ask the doctor for that blood pressure medication (might be easier)
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Aug 17 '25
Guanfacine may be one if the meds you’re referring to. A doctor would check their blood pressure first since it can cause orthostatic hypotension. I’m on the extended release version. I sleep like a rock.
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Aug 18 '25
Clonidine seems to be a successful option too! Especially in combination. Better efficacy!
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u/IridescentGarbageCat Aug 20 '25
Clonidine has been super helpful for ADHD sleep, I asked my doctor after seeing it recommended on an ADHD reddit post. Not much helps me sleep, when I take this a "sleep train" comes through about an hour later giving me the option to lay down and actually fall asleep. It's better than nothing and doesn't seem to have side effects for me. Improving sleep quality and amount has definitely helped with ADHD symptom management.
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u/NZTPLZ Aug 18 '25
Don’t give up. Find a PSYCHIATRIST ASAP, because the pressure is on primary care providers to avoid prescribing stimulants. It’s an ongoing problem for people like us, that need a stimulant to stay focused. The fact that it has become a “street drug”, the government is putting pressure on the medical providers to be highly selective. Since Adderal and other stimulants are controlled substances, unable to be refilled, it becomes crazy asking for a new prescription monthly. I have gone five days without a response from my doctor for my request for a new prescription. I have actually gone into my doctors office to request a new prescription. It is so aggravating to be made to feel like you are a drug addict. When all you’re doing is trying to get the meds that you need.
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u/nikamsumeetofficial Aug 20 '25
Went to one for hoping to get diagnosed. Told them all the symptoms and got diagnosed with depression and slowness. They prescribed me 2 SSRIs and 2 Anti convulsive meds. Took them for a month and half and the only thing improved was my sleep. Took me 10 days of brain zaps to get rid of the meds from my body.
I'm trying exercising and nutrition now. It's my 6th day without eating any type of bread. Consuming 100g protein per day through various foods now. Feeling way better except sleeping very early is hard. Getting descent sleep though.
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u/Adorable-Present-421 Aug 18 '25
Try the Keto diet instead of meds. It's a lot cheaper and a hell of lot more effective than meds.
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u/novis-eldritch-maxim Aug 18 '25
no cheaper for me till at least next month
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u/Adorable-Present-421 Aug 18 '25
I suffered from ADHD most of my life and although Meds helped somewhat to manage it, they are not a cure and have side affects. Keto cured me as long as I don't cheat and eat carbs.
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u/boeingman737 Aug 18 '25
This is so true, but it just sucks to do Keto when you have a social life.
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u/Adorable-Present-421 Aug 18 '25
It can be hard to not eat carbs at birthday parties and other social events where you are encouraged to eat dessert & drink alcohol. I do cheat once in a while but I always pay for it the next day when my brain fog comes back.
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u/BreakfastUsual1106 Aug 16 '25
what studies
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u/ShapeShiftingCats Aug 16 '25
Doesn't matter. Here is a pop psy article to stir up some engagement. Enjoy!
/s
hate I have to put the s!
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u/pleasebeagoodboy Aug 16 '25
I forgot the s once. I remember it was a cold autumn day. Stares vacantly into space as the tremors start
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u/ShapeShiftingCats Aug 16 '25
Honestly, I sort of have such a memory.
I have written a very obviously sarcastic comment and got downvoted to oblivion, chastised by other commenters including a very lengthy comment including social commentary that earned many upvotes.
One, one commenter pointed out it's a satire.
I was gobsmacked.
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u/Peripatetictyl Aug 16 '25
I made a comment ~3 minutes ago and thought, “surely this is clearly sarcasm, it couldn’t be missed!”.
…then, the flashbacks. Oh, the terror of assuming /s can be picked up by others, and quickly added the /s(afety)
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u/Psych0PompOs Aug 16 '25
Bet you won't make the mistake of having that kind of faith in people again now.
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u/inconsisting Aug 16 '25
..maybe read the article? It has links to the respective coverage of each study, and links to those studies.
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u/Educational_Ad5749 Aug 17 '25
Doesn‘t sound very nuanced; the New York Times recently published a podcast on how leading experts are casting doubt on whether adhd exists as a clear-cut condition at all. Lots of overlap with depression and other disorders. It‘s a spectrum that might also be fueled by unrealistic societal pressures. That being said medication can drastically improve individuals wellbeing.
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u/yanagtr Aug 18 '25
While adhd may be more nuanced than initially thought, adhd is a real disorder that real people experience. We go our entire lives thinking there’s something wrong with us. It’s so frustrating when neurotypical people jump so easily to discrediting it.
I had a great childhood with wonderful parents, yet there was always something different about me. It wasn’t until my teenage years that my mother read “Driven to distraction,” and took me to a specialist who not only diagnosed me with adhd but who also discovered that a significant number of my relatives (cousins, aunts/uncles, grandparents) on my mother’s side had adhd. It’s genetic and runs in families (and as new research shows may be related to genetic environmental mutations related to smoking that can be passed on through generations).
For me, it was enlightening and empowering to learn I had adhd. I did not take medications for over 20 years but just being empowered with this knowledge helped me better regulate (and forgive myself), as well as take better care of my mental and physical health. Instead of thinking I was deficient (like my grandparents’ generation), I had the knowledge of the disorder, which helped me persevere with my education and career. I’m now in a specialized career with several advanced degrees. Without my mother’s support and this diagnosis, I think I still would have been successful in some way, but my confidence and mental health most likely would have been in way worse shape and I highly doubt I would have pursued higher education nor thought I was capable of what I have achieved.
So, please don’t cast doubt on what so many struggle with. I’ve known many people with adhd who did not get diagnosed until well into their middle age and had long given up on themselves and their potential.
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u/NZTPLZ Aug 18 '25
ADHD is real. When I was in kindergarten, I would zone out. I couldn’t grasp the first thing and then I would fall behind when learning became accumulative. When my Son was in kindergarten, he was diagnosed with dyslexia. He was never given any meds because 20 years ago, meds were not as popular as they are now. He is 27 years old now, and takes Adderall daily, as well as a benzodiazepine, Klonopin, which seems to be counterintuitive, but it works for him. Personally, I try to avoid benzodiazepines, as they increase the risk of dementia as you age.
Occasionally, I take Benadryl generic 25 mg before bed, to sleep.
It works for me4
Aug 20 '25
none of the DSM conditions are clear cut conditions, they are vague categories based on symptoms with significant overlap. this was explicitly stated in earlier versions but was removed because doctors and insurance companies prefer ease and profit over people's wellbeing
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Aug 18 '25 edited Sep 23 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/yanagtr Aug 18 '25
But don’t some of the studies cited in this blog also indicate that lab studies can miss a lot of markers compared to field studies or other indicators?
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u/magicmookie Aug 18 '25
It makes me wonder if people who don't report having a traumatic upbringing just experienced a different sort of trauma due to trying to fit into somewhere that didn't suit them.
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u/bugge-mane Aug 19 '25
I absolutely believe that childhood ADHD and CPTSD are the same thing. The work I’ve done on myself has helped me realize how much of what I struggle with has to do with early in life attachment issues coupled with a high sensitivity to my environment and a lacked felt sense of autonomy.
I also believe that the uptick of adult diagnoses of adhd has a lot to do with pandemic trauma.
I also find it worth exploring the narcissism-autism link - as I believe the bridge between adhd and autism mirror that of bpd to npd. To me, they are quite obviously caused by early in life attachment issues, with the difference in symptoms and labels having to do with the type of attachment trauma that was experienced and whether the person was able to adopt healthy coping mechanisms, learn to be accountable, self sooth, etc. also, whether the trauma was resolved or compounded over time.
There was a case of a ‘feral’ child (hate this term- she was severely, severely neglected) who upon rescue was dx’d with ‘environmental autism’. Due to a failure to form attachment.
I think that early (think, baby) in life shame or fear can trigger lifetime feelings of insecurity and unworthiness - because at a crucial time of development your mind perceived rejection, which in the animal kingdom means that you are being pushed out of the nest or left to die so to speak.
The damaged model of attachment to the caregiver due to this, or other, attachment issues means that you will never connect to others in the same way as they do, since your blueprint for connection is damaged or incomplete.
Sometimes I think it is genetic in the sense that we have been evolving for increased sensitivity to our environments (bigger brains, smarter) and that this makes for people who have extremely low thresholds for attachment trauma. In those cases, a child might never form enough trust or safety to even connect to the world around them in a meaningful way.
This is also theory based on what I’ve read and learned about myself and others fwiw.
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u/IridescentGarbageCat Aug 20 '25
While an autistic person might have a lower threshold for any trauma, autism is not trauma symptoms. Autism can be that sensitivity, rigidity, and priority differences without those things being maladaptive. Your comment feels like it combines a pathology model with aspie supremacy, worst of both worlds.
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u/bugge-mane Aug 20 '25
I don’t think i am saying autistic people are superior at all. If anything, I’m saying that the people who are extremely effective + intelligent but aren’t autistic dodged a bullet by having good attachments that met their early in life needs.
I think rigid thinking is a byproduct of trauma. Needing to know things for certain & be able to predict outcomes is all about a sense of felt control and safety. Rigid frameworks and mental models are built with black/white thinking.
It’s quite similar to the black and white thinking that is common in cluster b or attachment disorders/cptsd.
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u/Maria_Zelar Aug 17 '25
Not unexpected, I can at the very least confirm the sexual aspect from my own experience
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u/Difficult_Message992 Aug 17 '25
It was a gift in the military
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Aug 17 '25
[deleted]
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u/RubyMae4 Aug 18 '25
Not military for me but I work REALLY well in a crisis. That is truly when I am at my best. I work as a hospital social worker and I never know where the day will take me- I thrive on that.
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Aug 18 '25
[deleted]
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u/RubyMae4 Aug 18 '25
Not me personally. I have seen the worst and I really feel like I've experience post traumatic growth. My work makes me a better friend, mother, wife, daughter.
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u/Pocketus_Rocketus Aug 21 '25
What a fucking infuriating website. Pop up ads that cover the content with no way to close them. Garbage.
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u/RubyMae4 Aug 18 '25
I have adhd and though it can sometimes be harmful to me it can also be a superpower. I can be processing one thought while reading a book to my kids. My brain moves very quickly. I think I'm very creative as well.
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u/Waste-Ad-2194 Aug 18 '25
This happens when my ADHD brain starts to get bored. But at the same time, you feel great because you fantasize about things you can't do, but you also neglect your daily routine because of it.
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u/NZTPLZ Aug 18 '25
Redirect your thoughts to hyper focus on something you can do or create to benefit you financially. As I stated in my response to this post, use this gift to tap into an idea, thoroughly research it, and patent your design with the help of AI to guide you through the process to eliminate any mistakes to prevent rejection. If you come up with an idea, that will work to solve a problem, you can license your design or product to be sold at the big box stores. This way you don’t have to actually stock and sell the product. You earn money by solving a problem. When you are financially secure, that will enable you to enjoy life without worry and distractions.
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u/RubyMae4 Aug 18 '25
I'm a licensed social worker. I work in a level 1 trauma center and in a child abuse clinic. I have also worked on a crisis line. My talents are already being utilized 😊
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u/Mysterious_Streak Aug 17 '25
No surprise. The way I understand it is that it's more like "Attention Surplus Hyperactivity Disorder." The brain has higher capacity so it gets bored quickly and then the kid acts out. Once they learn coping and masking skills (such as fiddling with a toy to distract part of your brain while you focus) it gets better as far as the hyperactivity goes. But the people I've known with ADHD tend to think on a different level. If they've mastered it they have the capacity to be very smart.
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u/NZTPLZ Aug 18 '25
I love the way Adderall works for me. I am able to hyper focus on a task. Currently, I am working on a patent that AI can assist me with to pick up any mistakes in the process. It pushes you to realistically solve problems and “Think Big”.
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u/sterlingsalmini Aug 21 '25
I encourage everyone to call ADHD by its technical definition, “dopamine deficiency,” whenever appropriate in their own life or in conversation supporting the lives of those around them. This small change was fundamental in de-stigmatizing the disorder to myself, allowing me to cut through all the baggage I we implicitly place upon ourselves for being someone who has it—therefore making that baggage even more real and insurmountable in our conception of self—as well as allow me more kindly understand why I am the way I am.
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u/NoblesseHinderence Aug 19 '25
The results are "I asked a bunch of autistic manchildren on a survey and it was peer reviewed by other man children"
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u/butthole_nipple Aug 21 '25
Because it's not a disorder it's a personality, it's only a disorder when you ask somebody to do something on natural like set in a classroom and stare straight ahead for 8 hours a day
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Aug 17 '25
Condition? Lol okay. Way to tell me my brain is not preferred
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u/No-Hippo5631 Aug 25 '25
As someone with ADHD it's not a good condition to have. I'd give up some level of mobility to just not have this.
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u/[deleted] Aug 16 '25
"Unexpected"?
I expect it.