Hello all, CURIOUS-What are people’s experiences with addiction issues and ADHD?

[Silvercreek74]

New to the group but happy to be here. I have had my own struggles with addiction (most notably alcohol) and I am wondering about others. I am in recovery and doing a lot of work finding a place where 12 step/ADHD work/therapy/spiritually all begin to dovetail. Really interested in others experiences. Do you use the dopamine-Seeking behavior terminology? Do you find yourself struggling with or identifying multiple things/issues you have an unhealthy relationship with? Thanks for any replies!!

[ShaneWard]

Hey, I was diagnosed with ADHD while in rehab for alcoholism...sober 2.5yrs now and am currently setting up an ADHD coaching practise because after rehab and a lot of researching the link between ADHD and addiction is strong...problem here in SA is that the likelihood of being diagnosed later in life is a crapshoot and you're more likely to land in rehab!

I personally don't use the dopamine angle because that wasnt the root of my addiction...as a layperson I've postulated that those who have the hyperactive presentation may be dopamine chasers but that the inattentive could very well find their path via the numbing of the emotion dysregulation (my root cause)...

just as a personal quirk I'd left group supports because in the absence of understanding ADHD the constant refrain of how we are powerless against addiction created the same overwhelm that I used to escape when I got angry with people not wanting to listen to an alternative view and realised that the group was not healthy for me. I believe in empowerment and recovery through knowledge and acceptance - I manage my overwhelm because I know what it is now and I dont want to numb that feeling that sometimes fuels my activism for ADHD

Rather than overwhelm, I can write essays on this topic so I'll cut it short. I'll add my blog post specifically on my story on addiction in my profile as I'd rather not punt my site in discussions. Any other questions or discussion of community interest I'm more than happy to talk.

[wtfadhd in reply to ShaneWard]

Im an addiction counselor n have ADHD. So happy to read your post that u are setting up an advocacy for this issue that is soooo ignored n sooo misunderstood! Awesome. What is your blog?

[JP650 in reply to ShaneWard]

I have also felt a calling to work on developing a recovery program for managing addictions that is more empowering. This " I believe in empowerment and recovery through knowledge and acceptance" really was something I fully agree and resonate with. I got a pretty detailed understanding of the 12 step program at a fairly young age, about 20, when my 21 year old girlfriend had a clear and very destructive relationship with alcohol already very developed. I immediately had an aversion to the statement "I am powerless against _____". Keep in mind that I have always been a very spiritual person and grew up within a Catholic healing ministry (although I no longer identify my views of spirit with an organized ideology). I have had my struggles with one addiction after another over the years and the only thing that has been powerful and effective for me is the opposite, and exactly what you believe in: understanding myself, the root causes of my behaviors and compulsions, my brain and body chemistry, and EMPOWERING myself to know that I DO HAVE CONTROL, but that I have just given it up. My view is that my higher self, my true being, has given control to my ego which has become beaten down and takes a victim standpoint as a result of RSD, shame, etc. and has also allowed me to "give up on trying" and self-medicate in order not to feel worse and hopefully make me feel good enough to at least try and be normal or do some work to fix things. Of course, this ends up not exactly being the case and eventually ends up in a self-fulfilling cycle of destruction and self-abuse. I too am interested to read your blog and maybe, as I develop my own story and offering, we can have a dialogue and collaborate on developing this practice together. I offer my support, compassion and empathy. Cheers!

[Hidden]

I have had my addiction problems as well. I’m sober now for 25 years... the 12 steps and meetings were instrumental in initial recovery and continued support. I don’t want to minimize that. However, when I was diagnosed with ADHD later in life, I realized that some of the things I called character defects were really executive function challenges. Telling me (or my telling myself) just to ‘do the next right thing’ brought on much unnecessary shame when I was challenged by ADHD. Why couldn’t I just live according to what I thought was the will of HP? Was I morally inferior? Had I just not ‘turned things over’? Many Old timers in recovery guard their programs vigorously, and are unwilling to challenge that what they call laziness, for example, might be something else and that labeling it a character defect could be self-defeating.

I agree that there are major driving forces that push ADHDers into addiction. Stimulation is one. Management of emotional dysregulation is another. Coping with RSD, another. ADHD related trauma and unrealized expectations, isolation and loneliness, yet others. Depression, anxiety. Addiction can run in families and so does ADHD and there is a high correlation between the two. We are twice as likely to have addiction issues, statistically. Notice how many people fidget or go off track verbally in a recovery meeting:-).

I think it’s a sticky mushed up ball of wax, and hard to generalize about. Emotional Dysregulation and Dopamine are certainly interconnected on some level though it’s not completely understood.

I too am an ADHD Coach, and this topic is dear and close to my heart as I have ADHD and an addiction history. Thanks for bringing up the subject!

[Hidden]

Oh yeah, welcome to the Tribe!

[Silvercreek74]

Thanks so much for your comments! More to come...

[Tarknassus]

Alcoholic here. It was often observed when I'd had a couple of drinks I became "normal" to my friends at the time. Problem I had was zero regulation of consuming alcohol. I had to have more.

I have been sober 6.5 years now, and simply used a mantra - "I can't drink, I won't drink therefore I can happily say I don't drink." I hated looking at the past which I found with some support groups - a bunch of people reminiscing about the old days when they got wasted and ruined their lives. I wanted to look forward. I also 'gameified' it by counting the days I haven't drunk. It's a high score now and I'm afraid to break it.

I have similar problems with eating too - I'll often snack constantly as a means of eating rather than having proper meals any more. It's a stimulation/comfort thing more than actual sustenance, hence my weight fluctuates wildly too. Also, foods are often sweet/carb-heavy which is a sugar hit to my mind.

Looking back, I can see these two things being attributed to ADHD because of the roots of them. My dysregulation of these things just made it so much easier to fall into an addictive behaviour rather than being able to moderate (which I had tried so many many times and failed).

[Alm751]

I have ADHD and depression. I’ve been sober for almost 4 years. Attend daily AA meeting. On meds for depression. Had to stop Adderall due to potential of TD. Started Atomoxetine which didn’t work. Dr increased anti depressant which helps w focus. Many alcoholics have other issues like ADHD and/or anxiety and:or depression.