The Long Term Cost of Improper and/or Lack of ADHD Treatment

Below is a quote from just over three years ago from an article that appeared in Forbes Magazine pertaining to the misunderstanding of ADHD. The quotation is in italics. What we see from this little snip is the seriousness of undiagnosed and untreated ADHD. Our understanding of ADHD needs to change. ADHD that persists into adulthood has an astronomical cost, not only for the individual who suffers and their family, but economically and in the work place. Think about it, with it's comorbidities, think about the loss of production, possible job related accidents, sick days, lack of job performance which can include incomplete projects, costly errors or oversights, which also leads to loss of customers. Associated with this is substance abuse, a result of self-medicating and simply just trying to get by, but really just sinking in deeper. This may very likely lead to job loss, and the burden that puts on the system, but more importantly the family. We then have the escalating medical costs in both mental and medical health. It is safe to say, the costs are compounded, and as we see, not only physically, emotionally and spiritually. The coast reach out beyond the family and into the work force and beyond.

William Barbaresi, MD, Director of the Developmental Medicine Center at Boston Children’s Hospital and Associate Chief, Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, who headed the new study, stresses that we need to overhaul our understanding and approach to ADHD intervention and treatment. “One of the major obstacles is that there continues to be, in the media and the general public, this trivialization and sensationalization of ADHD as an overblown problem that’s being over-treated. But, as we’re understanding more and more, this is a serious chronic problem that begins in childhood and persists into adulthood. For example, in our study, 80% of those individuals with persisting ADHD had other mental health diagnosis. And even for those whose ADHD didn’t persist, 47% still had another psychiatric diagnosis. We have got to create a system that’s designed to treat ADHD as chronic health issue, not just a kid disorder.” (Forbes, March 5, 2013 Time to Pay Attention: What the Newest Research is Telling Us)