ADHD treatment reduces comorbidities

In addition to reducing ADHD symptoms, treatment of ADHD also reduces symptoms of comorbid stress in many areas.

• 1. Normalization of comorbid mental disorders by ADHD medications
• 2. Normalization of Personality Style and Disorder Inventory (PSSI) symptoms by ADHD medications

1. Normalization of comorbid mental disorders by ADHD medications¶

The symptoms of these areas, which were comorbidly significantly elevated before treatment, are returned to the normal ranges within 4 to 6 months by methylphenidate treatment.¹²³ The presentation is consistent with our experience, although we do not believe that these are merely subjective improvements due to therapeutic expectation, but rather we consider this to be a direct therapeutic effect.⁴

ADHD treatment brings about improvements in terms of

• Compulsivity (sharp decline)⁵
• Depressiveness¹⁶
• Anxiety⁷
• Phobic fear⁷
• Aggressiveness⁷³
• Social introversion (here: indicated shyness, self-consciousness, etc.) - sharp decline, insecurity in social contact, social inhibition⁷⁸³
• Social orientation³
• Excitability³
• Hypomania⁶
• General life satisfaction (here: positive basic mood, confidence, etc.)³
• Feeling of stress (tense, overstrained, stressed)³
• Emotionality³
• Extraversion³
• Openness³
• Somatization⁵
• Physical complaints (less significant decrease)³
• Paranoid thinking⁵
• Psychoticism (here: feelings of isolation, distorted experience, etc.)⁵
• Hypochondria⁶
• Hysteria (conversion disorder)⁶
• Paranoia⁶
• Psychasthenia (neuroses)⁶
• Schizophrenia (here: strange ideas, extraordinary feelings, etc.) - sharp decline⁶

There were deteriorations in the following areas

• Performance orientation³
• Health concerns (albeit minor)³

Psychopathy remained unchanged.⁶

In over 80% of subjects, diagnostic criteria for ADHD were no longer met after 4 to 6 months of methylphenidate therapy.⁹

2. Normalization of Personality Style and Disorder Inventory (PSSI) symptoms by ADHD medications¶

ADHD sufferers develop all 14 personality areas of the PSSI positively during methylphenidate therapy, i.e. away from the pole of a possible personality disorder of the trait, towards the area of normal personality expressions.¹⁰ The presentation is consistent with our experience, although we do not believe that these are merely subjective improvements due to therapeutic expectation,⁴ but rather we consider this to be a direct therapeutic effect.

• Headstrong - paranoid¹¹
• Reserved - schizoid¹¹
• Foreboding - schizotypical¹¹
• Spontaneous - borderline¹¹
• Amiable - histrionic¹¹
• Ambitious - narcissistic¹¹
• Self-critical - self-insecure¹¹
• Loyal - dependent¹¹
• Carefully - compulsively¹¹
• Critical - negativistic¹¹
• Silent - depressed¹¹
• Helpful - selfless¹¹
• Optimistic - rhapsodic¹¹
• Self-assertive - antisocial¹¹

The symptoms were already below the threshold at which a personality disorder would have been considered at the start of the test. However, the positive development documents the evolution towards more balanced personality traits. These are of great subjective benefit to the persons concerned.