Some people with ADHD thrive in periods of stress, new study shows

‘ADHD patients may do best when they have to rise to the occasion,’ the study’s lead author Maggie Sibley said. Photograph: AJ Watt/Getty Images

A recent study has revealed that some people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) cope best during periods of high stress.

Maggie Sibley, a clinical psychologist and psychiatry professor at the University of Washington and the study’s lead author, initially set out to learn whether it is possible for adults to recover from ADHD. In an earlier study, published in 2022, she investigated a National Institute of Mental Health data set that tracked 600 patients with ADHD over 16 years, starting from childhood.