ADHD in Older Adults

Your ADHD Life: Symptoms & Strategies for Older Adults

Strategies for coping with attention deficit may become less effective as you age. Try these new approaches for managing symptoms in later life.

By Edward Hallowell, M.D. Verified Updated on February 12, 2024
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ADHD can look noticeably different throughout a person’s lifetime —  from childhood to adolescence and from young adulthood, enters midlife, and again during the senior years. ADHD symptoms may flare and grow after midlife — especially when mixed with normal age-related cognitive decline, worsening physical health. If your strategies don’t work as well as they once did, here are some great tips for optimizing your ADHD brain.

Monitor ADHD Meds

A physician experienced in treating ADHD in adults should monitor your medications, and you should check in regularly with them should any side effects occur. Over the years, clinicians expressed concerns about the safety of ADHD medication, particularly in middle-aged and older adults, and the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, a  2022 meta-analysis of studies from the last 15 years involving more than 3.9 million participants concluded that “ADHD medication use was not statistically significantly associated with the risk of any CVD (cardiovascular disease) among children and adolescents, young and middle-aged adults, older adults, or overall.” The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, was the most comprehensive to date on the association between ADHD medication and CVD risk.1

Serve Up Brain Food

A nutrition plan low in saturated fats and calories and high in vegetables and fiber may reduce the risk of developing dementia. It can also improve your focus and decrease the mood swings that sugar brings on. Your mother may have been ahead of her time when she dispensed cod liver oil to you and told you that fish is “brain food.” Take fish oil, if you are not doing so already. The omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fatty fish, like salmon and tuna, really do help brains, particularly ADHD ones, function.Omega-3 and omega-6 supplements have been found to boost blood levels and moderately decrease the severity of ADHD symptoms. 2

[Special Report: Inside the Aging ADHD Brain]

Create Time for Learning

As they age, adults with ADHD, “masters of the now,” lose some of their ability to process in the moment. You’ll need to rely more on ADHD-friendly calendars, apps, and the like to stay organized. In addition, put on your to-do list learning new things, like chess, bridge, or Spanish.

Exercise Your Heart and Head

Exercise offers many benefits to ADHD brains. According to a meta-analysis recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, high-intensity physical activity greatly improves mental health symptoms in adults across clinical conditions; vigorous and short-duration exercises were found to be most effective in improving mild-to-moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety, compared to usual care.3 Twenty minutes a day of aerobic exercise, such as fast walking, will serve your brain well. But don’t stop there. Ballroom dancing or martial arts are fun, and each activity taxes the brain by forcing it to coordinate multiple body parts. This improves focus in people with ADHD.

Stay Connected

Write or call one friend a week, and go out regularly with friends. Put it on your to-do list, next to laundry and grocery shopping. Join a club that centers on a hobby you love. The meetings will motivate you to get out more.

ADHD Strategies for Older Adults: Next Steps

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1Zhang L, Yao H, Li L, et al. (2022). Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases Associated with Medications Used in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. JAMA Netw Open. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.43597

2Singh, B., Olds, T., Curtis, R., et al. (2023). Effectiveness of physical activity interventions for improving depression, anxiety and distress: an overview of systematic reviews. British Journal of Sports Medicine. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2022-106195

3Derbyshire, E. (2017). Do Omega-3/6 Fatty Acids Have a Therapeutic Role in Children and Young People with ADHD? J Lipids. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6285218