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Comment by hasbot | Hacker News Reader

From the first article: "But people with ADHD had twice the rate of suicide, twice the rate of death by homicide, and a 30 % greater rate of death from unintentional injury"

I get the suicide, but the higher homicide rate is surprising. Any thoughts on why someone with ADHD has a higher chance of being murdered?

ETA: I never considered ADHD people as risk takers (definitely not me) but apparently they are: https://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/features/adhd-dangerous-risky...

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In general, people with ADHD do not conform to society's expectations of how a human brain should work. That means they're more likely to be marginalized & targeted, and likely have fewer resources at their disposal if they are at risk; so they are both more likely to become a homicide target and have less protection if they do. They're also more likely to engage in risk taking behaviour, much of which could increase one's risk of being a victim of a homicide.

I feel like I respond to conflict in ways that are extremely unexpected by other people. I tend to act impulsively on principle without thinking about the risks- and will stand up to a bully or criminal when I should not have, even if the issue isn’t important, and they have the advantage. I once stared at person pointing a loaded gun in the eye and lectured them on their behavior, completely ignoring the gun. I don’t know if that is a symptom of ADHD or not but it seems dangerous, and I’ve been lucky so far- the other people have always backed down when I stood up like this.

> I once stared at person pointing a loaded gun in the eye and lectured them on their behavior, completely ignoring the gun.

Yes. I was mugged at gunpoint, and my initial reaction was to talk about the game theory of the whole situation. Somewhere, somehow, I was able to force down that thought by realizing that they wouldn't be in that situation in the first place if game theory had any space in their thinking, so all I would be doing was increasing my chances of getting killed.

I almost did it anyway.

Important context: I'm not brave at all; bravery did not enter the picture in that whole interaction. It was just what I instinctively felt like doing.

...and yes, impulsiveness, risk taking behaviour are standard ADHD symptoms, and ADHD often affects how you respond to conflict.

Agreed- also in my case it’s not bravery. Bravery is when you’re scared but do it anyways because it’s necessary- not being scared when you should be is a bad thing and isn’t related to bravery.

> ETA: I never considered ADHD people as risk takers (definitely not me) but apparently they are:

Keep in mind there are officially three types of ADHD: Predominantly Inattentive, Predominantly Hyperactive, and Combined. The risk-taking is much more associated with the second and third types than the first.

https://www.goodrx.com/conditions/adhd/3-adhd-types-differen...

Yeah, I'm in the Predominantly Inattentive category.

>Any thoughts on why someone with ADHD has a higher chance of being murdered?

Higher risk tolerance and illegal substance abuse, which then result in getting mixed up with drug dealers (and the like) where most people "nope" out of situations before the trouble begins?

If you have poor impulse control then you are more likely to be involved in crime as well as having intense, chaotic personal relationships. Both are correlated with homicide.

Gang violence, fights, and interpersonal conflict.

I want to be surprised if there was a correlation with murder as well as homicide

impulse control plays a role

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