The longer ADHD in women goes undiagnosed, the greater the risk for severe, often irreversible life impacts — including shortened lifespan. The cost of invisibility is measured in years.
A new British Journal of Psychiatry study just confirmed it: adults with ADHD die younger than they should. On average, women lose 8.6 years of life, men lose 6.8. And the risk grows with every year the condition remains unrecognized and untreated.
When I first wrote about this years ago, I argued ADHD wasn’t just a mental health concern — it was a public health concern.
That belief was sparked by Dr. Russell Barkley’s research. (I may have “professionally admired” him enough in 2018 to qualify as light stalking. He didn’t call the police, so we’re fine.)
Dr. Barkley’s talks blew me away because they named something I’d always felt: ADHD affects your whole health.
I’d seen it in my own family. Untreated ADHD doesn’t just make life harder, it can shorten it.
Why ADHD Is a Health Risk
Barkley breaks ADHD’s neuropsychological impact into two big categories:
Executive Inhibition — difficulty filtering distractions, making decisions, or delaying gratification
Executive Attention — trouble persisting toward goals, handling transitions, and holding things in working memory
Both affect self-monitoring, or the ability to notice when you’re making choices that put your health or safety at risk.
This lack of self-regulation can snowball into:
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Higher rates of accidents and injuries
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Poor preventive health care
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Chronic illnesses (obesity, diabetes, heart disease)
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Increased substance use
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Emotional and relational stress
Why Women Are Hit Harder
Women are more likely to be misdiagnosed, or to have depression, anxiety, or eating disorders treated without anyone checking for ADHD underneath. By the time many women finally hear the word “ADHD” applied to them, years of preventable harm have already happened.
The new UK data reinforces that this isn’t harmless. Women with ADHD in the study were more than twice as likely to die during the follow-up period compared to women without ADHD. And these weren’t inevitable deaths — they were tied to modifiable factors like untreated health conditions, substance use, accidents, and suicide.
The Takeaway
ADHD awareness isn’t a luxury — it’s protective.
You can’t change your genes, but you can seek diagnosis, treatment, and support. Every year a woman spends invisible to the system is a year where risks grow. For women with ADHD, timely recognition can be the difference between a long, healthy life and one cut short.
📖 Read more about this research, my personal story, and what’s in my upcoming book over on my Substack: https://healthyadhd.substack.com — where I dig deeper into the science, the lived experience, and what women can do to protect their health starting now.
1.O’Nions E, El Baou C, John A, et al. Life expectancy and years of life lost for adults with diagnosed ADHD in the UK: matched cohort study. The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2025;226(5):261-268. doi:10.1192/bjp.2024.199