Is It Possible For ADHD To Go Away When You Turn 25?

Last updated: November 27th, 2019

Before turning 25, my life was full of quick, spontaneous, dopamine-fueled decisions.

I was always the rebellious trouble-maker.

I always had a difficult time predicting the future outcomes of my actions.

This was the biggest problem for me growing up.

When you make immediate decisions in the moment, and you’re unable to think clearly about how your decisions will influence your future outcomes…well this isn’t very good at all. This puts you at a significant disadvantage in life.

But something interesting happened to me around the time I turned 25 years old...

At 25 years old, I could suddenly make long-term decisions with great mental clarity for probably the first time in my life.

After speaking with multiple people about this…it seems like many people share this same experience.

One person even told me they could experience lateral thinking for the first time in their life once they turned 25.

Lateral thinking is a manner of solving problems using an indirect and creative approach via reasoning that is not immediately obvious. It involves ideas that may not be obtainable using only traditional step-by-step logic.

– Wikipedia’s definition of lateral thinking

So what’s really going on here?

Is it really possible for ADHD to “go away” around the age of 25?

Let’s investigate…

Does the human brain actually change when you turn 25 years old?

First thing’s first.

Scientists agree that the human brain experiences the most growth before the age of 25, and then “slows down” or even stops developing around the age of 25.

I personally don’t think it’s fair to say that your brain completely “stops developing” at any age…because the human body is a living organism that is constantly “reinventing” itself.

Your DNA is constantly changing all the time.

You’re essentially a “new person” every 7 to 10 years (scientifically proven).

With this being said, it’s been proven that the human brain undergoes a significant developmental change around the age of 25.

This is why so many people say they “feel different” around the age of 25.

Some people even say they “grow out of ADHD” around the age of 25…

Is it really possible to grow out of ADHD when you turn 25?

I imagine there are thousands of people who turn 25 or 26 and feel like they can think clearly for the first time in their lives.

This is pretty much what happened to me.

In my case, a lot of my problems went away once I turned 25.

I could finally plan for the future in a way that I hadn’t been able to do before.

However..

I genuinely don’t know if it’s possible to grow out of ADHD.

This topic is far too complicated for me and even the lifelong scientists, doctors and researchers.

In reality, there’s just no way to tell if people can actually grow out of ADHD or not (for the time being at least).

But I do think it’s worth paying close attention to your thought processes around the age of 25 to see if you notice any significant improvements in your lateral thinking or decision making ability.

At the very least, there is a possibility that your brain functionality will improve around the age of 25 or so.

What about all the people with adult ADHD who are over the age of 25?

Adult ADHD is obviously a massive challenge that millions of people struggle with on a daily basis.

It’s clear that Adult ADHD still affects millions of people who are 25 years of age and older.

If you’re over 25, and still feel like you struggle with ADHD, don’t worry.

There are still millions of us out there.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, there’s still so much that we don’t know due to the complexity of ADHD and the human brain in general.

But we do know a few things for certain.

Here’s what we do know:

• Your brain undergoes a significant developmental change around the age of 25

• Around the age of 25, you could experience significant improvements in your ability to think laterally and make long-term decisions

• Millions of people who are 25 years of age or older still struggle with Adult ADHD

• No one truly knows if it’s possible to “grow out of” ADHD or not

• Pay attention to your thought processes, eat healthy, exercise, socialize and improve all aspects of your life continuously…this is the least we can all do to live a better life with ADHD