New study conducted by the University of Southampton, researchers found that ADHD medication is linked to significantly lowering risk of suicidal behaviours, substance misuse, transport accidents and criminality.
ADHD Medication: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also popularly known as ADHD, is a common mental disorder that affects nearly 5 8% of children, mostly boys, and lasts up to adulthood. People with ADHD struggle in three main areas such as being unable to stay focused, excessive movement that is not appropriate to the setting, and acting without thinking. Therefore, medical practitioners commonly prescribe methylphenidate to treat patients with ADHD.
How Does ADHD Medication Help Lower Risks Of Suicidal Behaviours?
The study, which is now published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), examined medical records between 2007 and 2020 of nearly 1,50,000 people in Sweden, which suggested that the drugs could have meaningful benefits beyond helping with the core symptoms of ADHD.
Prof Samuele Cortese, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and researcher at the University of Southampton, told a leading media outlet, “We found that ADHD medication was associated with significantly reduced rates of first occurrences of suicidal behaviours, substance misuse, transport accidents and criminality. Our results should inform the debate on the effects and safety of ADHD medications.”
Method Of The Study
The team used a technique called target trial emulation to examine how often ADHD people had first and recurrent events of suicidal behaviours, substance misuse, accidental injuries, transport accidents, and criminality after ADHD diagnoses. To reach their result, researchers compared people aged 6 to 64 with a new diagnosis of ADHD, who either started or did not start drug treatment for ADHD within three months of diagnosis.
Individuals Benefit From ADHD Medication
Further, Cortese added, “When clinicians discuss the possible use of medication with families, oftentimes there is not a focus on what the risks are if you don’t treat. If left untreated, there will unfortunately be some risk. Now we have evidence that medication can reduce this risk.”
Prof Adam Guastella, of the Children’s Hospital Westmead Clinical School at the University of Sydney, said, “Such benefits have been shown repeatedly in previous studies, but the large sample size, use of a national registry, and more sophisticated analysis give greater confidence in these results that findings aren’t explained by something else other than medication use.
“People should know that if ADHD medications work for them and their child, there will likely be many other positive impacts on life from treatment. Such effects will not work for everyone, and there is still a need to understand why many individuals benefit from ADHD medication and some do not.”
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