Irritability in ADHD: Associations with depression liability

Irritability and bad moods have been associated with ADHD, though they are not diagnostic criteria for ADHD.

Medical experts are starting to recognize a new disorder called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder. This new diagnosis provides a name for having disruptively angry or irritable moods.

As a newly recognized disorder, there hasn’t been much research on it.

Researchers in the study wanted to understand more about the link between DMDD and ADHD. They also wanted to understand whether children with ADHD and DMDD have different rates of other mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety.

DMDD is characterized by severe and inappropriate outbursts. Typically, someone with DMDD may also be angry in between outbursts.

These episodes begin between ages six and 18. This is similar to the current understanding of ADHD, in which symptoms typically start in adolescence.

It’s important to note that not every bad mood counts as a disorder. It’s entirely normal to feel irritated and angry at times. This disorder is meant to capture a seriously disruptive condition that affects normal daily function.

Researchers recruited 696 children who had a diagnosis of ADHD. They asked these children questions to measure levels of irritability, anxiety, and depression.

They also surveyed the parents for depression and asked about family histories of depression.

Researchers found that most of the kids in the study experienced irritability. This tells us that irritability is common among kids with ADHD. However, because it doesn’t compare this finding to kids without ADHD, it’s hard to say how strong the link is between ADHD and irritability. One of the downsides of this type of study is that we can’t rule out the possibility that most kids are irritable regardless of ADHD status based on the measurements that they used.

Researchers also found that 31% of the children in the study with ADHD also met the criteria for the new irritability disorder. This is a surprisingly high prevalence for any disorder. The authors, however, did note that the data comes from a group of children already diagnosed with ADHD which suggests that the data may not be generalizable to the general population.

Those with ADHD and the new irritability disorder generally had worse outcomes. They had more anxiety symptoms and depression symptoms and were more likely to have depression run in their family.

This study provides evidence of a substantial link between ADHD and a new irritability disorder.

Many parents and teachers of those with ADHD have known for a while that ADHD can affect irritability and moods. This data provides evidence that supports their hunch.

The link between irritable moods and depression is concerning, but we will need more research to know how strong this link is and how it evolves as kids get older.