Is ADHD a pyramid scheme?

ADHD is like a pyramid scheme,” the comedian Sara Pascoe says.
You get diagnosed, and suddenly you’re telling all your friends they might have it too.

The audience laughs.
And honestly… I get it.

There is something strangely contagious about finally having language for a lifelong mystery.

When the diagnosis clicks into place, it’s hard not to see the patterns everywhere. In your friends, your siblings, your younger self. You want to hand out clues like breadcrumbs.

I’ve done it. I’ve been the friend sending links at midnight. Not to push a label, but to offer relief. To say: there’s a reason for the way you’ve been moving through the world.

So yes. There’s truth in the joke. But it also hurt.
Because behind the punchline, there’s something heavier. Quieter.

Let me tell you what I learned recently.

According to Dr. Russell Barkley, a leading ADHD researcher, having ADHD—especially when untreated or unsupported—can reduce your life expectancy by nearly 13 years. That’s more than smoking, heart disease, or five of the top public health risks combined.

Thirteen years. Gone. That’s not a quirky quirk.

For reference, smoking 20 cigarettes a day is considered to reduce life expectancy by 6.5 years.

And that figure (13 years) doesn’t even include death by accident or suicide—both tragically more common for those with ADHD. For about two-thirds of people with ADHD, that number may be as high as 21 years.

I write this with a healing bruise on my leg, knee, ankle and a scrape across my arm. From yet another fall at my home.

There are accidents in my house about once a month. Some small, some serious. I laugh about it sometimes. But there’s fear here too.

A quiet fear that lives in the body. In muscle memory. In the pause before turning a corner too quickly.

The statistics don’t surprise me anymore.
They just make the invisible cost visible.
I am not trying to guilt anyone and have no interest in policing jokes.
But I want to offer some/my perspective.

Because when we share the language of ADHD, we’re not recruiting for a scheme. We’re throwing each other lifelines.

We’re trying to understand ourselves.
We’re trying to stay alive.

Thank you for opening your hearts and minds to me. Thank you for reading.

Sources:
Russell A. Barkley, Journal of Attention Disorders, 2019.
Russell A. Barkley, CHADD Press Release, 2019.
Edward M. Hallowell, MD & John J. Ratey, MD, ADHD 2.0, 2021.