Side Effects of Adderall, Vyvance May Cause Psychotic Episodes: Study

High doses of the ADHD drugs could lead to a more than five times greater chance of users experiencing mania, psychosis or other psychotic breaks.

A new report reveals that individuals using high doses of Adderall, Vyvance and certain other ADHD drugs are at an increased risk of being diagnosed with mania or psychosis, a condition characterized by losing touch with reality.

These psychotic episodes are most often associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, leading to disorganized thinking and speech patterns, as well as hallucinations and delusions. Only about 3% of the population has experienced a psychotic episode, which typically lands those suffering from them in psychiatric hospitals.

However, in a new report published in Psychiatry Online on September 12, Dr. Lauren V. Moran and other researchers from the Division of Psychiatric Disorders at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts have discovered that taking high doses of ADHD drugs, including Adderall and Vyvance, leads to a 5.28 times greater chance of an individual suffering from a psychotic episode.

Adderall, Vyvance and the other drugs covered in Dr. Moran’s study are all amphetamines prescribed to help individuals cope better with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

More than 41 million people in the U.S. are currently using some form of ADHD medication, which is usually prescribed to improve the user’s focus and attention span.

The prescribing of these kinds of medications has increased in recent years, which is what led Dr. Moran’s team to examine the link between ADHD drug dosage levels and psychotic episodes, since previous studies have already linked prescription amphetamines to psychosis.

The team reviewed records for 1,374 individuals between the ages of 16 and 35, who were admitted to McLean Hospital for either mania or psychosis between 2005 and 2019. It was discovered that doses of ADHD amphetamine drugs over 30 mg increased the odds of an individual’s hospitalization for psychotic symptoms by 5.28 times.

“Although use of hospitalized control subjects excludes individuals with less severe disease, leading to selection bias, the study results suggest that caution should be exercised when prescribing high doses of amphetamines, with regular screening for symptoms of psychosis or mania,” Dr. Moran said.

ADHD Drugs May Not Have Desired Effects

Even though the findings of Dr. Moran’s study may be discouraging for those suffering from ADHD symptoms, other studies in recent years have already concluded that there might not be positive benefits from using many of the medications often prescribed for individuals with the condition.

One of the primary purposes of drugs such as Adderall and Vyvance is to assist those suffering from ADHD symptoms to focus better and complete their tasks successfully. However, researchers found in 2023 that although individuals were more motivated to take tests when using ADHD medications, their scores did not improve, leading researchers to conclude that ADHD drugs can increase motivation, while decreasing the quality of an individual’s work.

With nearly one quarter of U.S. high school students misusing or abusing ADHD drugs, as well as the number of teens overdosing on ADHD medications rising, findings such as these are leading government regulators to reevaluate their stance on ADHD medications.

The FDA has already updated ADHD drug labels to include increased risks of overuse and abuse, with the goal of curbing the recreational sharing of these drugs. Dr. Moran’s study merely adds more concerns to this evolving discourse.