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ADHD has an enormous impact on the patient at every stage - childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The impact of ADHD also extends to family members, friends, teachers, coworkers, and others. ADHD takes a toll on the personal life of the child, on social, academic, vocational, and employment components of life, and on the life and of members of the family, as a unit and as individuals.

In addition to the symptoms described above that the person with ADHD may experience, there is an extra component of social dysfunction which includes:

• Low self esteem
• Low threshold for frustration
• Poor performance in school/college/work
• Elevated risk of smoking and substance abuse
• Elevated risk of trouble with the law

Social difficulties may include:

• Impulsivity alienates school friends since the child with ADHD has difficulty playing by rules of social activities, such as waiting for a turn
• Impulsiveness offends other people leading to social isolation
• For some, lack of social skills makes it difficult for the person with ADHD to make friends and be accepted in new settings
• Difficulty in identifying or expressing emotion leads some with ADHD to an inability to handle frustration, regulate emotions, or control temper
• Difficulty in completing tasks in an organized fashion may lead to being considered undependable in the work setting

Family difficulties include:

• Parents experience high stress levels, depression, isolation, alcohol-related problems, marital discord, and exhaustion
• Siblings of patients with ADHD are though to engage in 4 times the amount of negative behaviors compared to that usually found among siblings without ADHD
• Frequent parent-child conflicts
• Significant time commitment of parents of the child with ADHD being involved with many obligations, including school conferences, phone calls, medical appointments, or other treatment or behavior-related appointments
• Financial burdens relating to ADHD-related expenses such as treatments, consultations with teachers, travel expenses, fees related to children with conduct disorders, and payments for fines or damages related to ODD or CD. Parents also incur higher medical costs for children with ADHD as they are at higher risk for injury from bike riding, as pedestrians, and as drivers or passengers in vehicles. It is estimated that the cost of caring for a child with ADHD is twice that of a child without ADHD