The Weekly Mind Reader: High Cost of Adult ADHD

Kids grow out of shoes, toys and nightlights, but about 85 percent of kids diagnosed with ADHD carry at least some of the symptoms into adulthood. At some point they need to make their own decisions about whether or not to stay on medication to help manage their condition.

This week, an article in The Primary Care Companion for CNS Disorders compared different treatment scenarios for adults with ADHD to see who fared best. It turns out that individuals who chose to stay on longer duration of effect stimulant formulations had the most favorable quality of life outcomes for the least amount of money. 

Patients who skipped meds altogether didn’t do quite so well. They took more trips to the hospital and had twice as many outpatient visits compared to those on either immediate-release (IR) only or extended-release (ER) only stimulants, or some combination of the two. Unmedicated adults racked up annual healthcare bills more than three times higher than medicated adults–$18,200 versus the ER+IR group’s $5,460.

As this study made clear, it’s important to understand the burdens faced by your ADHD patients as they move through adulthood and advise them well. When poorly managed, ADHD robs people of their income, health, and happiness. We encourage you to read the full study. 

More psychiatry and neurology news this week:

• Weight gain influences antipsychotic use – Patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder whose weight increased by at least seven percent in the first 90 days of treatment were more adherent, but also more likely to switch medications.

• Neuropsychiatric side effects from COVID vaccines are rare but real – Take this case of an elderly man who developed echo-like auditory hallucinations called palinacousis, after receiving a second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
• Clozapine proves useful in preventing suicide in people with schizophrenia – A truly unique study looking at blood panels taken at autopsy found that people who had taken clozapine were about 53 percent less likely to have died by suicide compared to people who had taken olanzapine.
• Dry cleaning chemicals raise the risk of Parkinson’s disease – A hypothesis study named trichloroethylene (TCE)–a chemical found in dry cleaning, paint, and many household cleaners–as an “invisible force” behind a 500 percent rise in Parkinson’s risk.
• Match Day 2023 is here – Be sure to follow the hashtags #Match2023, #MatchDay2023, and #NRMP2023 on social media to join the celebration as new psychiatrists and neurologists find out where they will be doing their residencies.
• Next week, don’t miss it – Some staple psychiatric drugs can be repurposed to treat COVID, Alzheimer’s Disease, and cancer.
• And finally, here is the Tweet of the Week:

I’M GOING TO BE A PSYCHIATRIST!! SOMEBODY’S DOCTOR!! FROM THE SOUTH BRONX TO THIS ! GOD NEVER TOOK HIS HAND OFF ME 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽 😭✨#happytears #Match2023 #psychedforpsych #Psychiatry pic.twitter.com/ByHlU2kxsw

— Kiyana Harris, MS (@KiyanaHarris) March 13, 2023