What’s more, regular exercise seems to help people avoid the lure of self-medication. This seems to be true for people with ADHD as well as those without. The good news? According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, an individual who hasn’t started abusing a substance by age 21 is unlikely to start later. Make sure your child understands that the best way to avoid trouble is to avoid illicit drugs altogether, and to wait until adulthood to use alcohol (if at all). Let your child know that having ADHD raises his risk for trouble, that he is more vulnerable to addiction than his peers without ADHD. If you wait until fifth or sixth grade, it may be too late. The implication is clear: If you or your child has ADHD, make sure to arrange for appropriate treatment (including, if necessary, ADHD medication).Įxperts urge parents to start talking to their kids about the matter at an early age. Put another way, treating ADHD effectively is powerful protection against substance abuse. In truth, it’s the opposite: people with ADHD who take these medications as prescribed are less likely than their untreated counterparts to drink or abuse drugs. Because of this, some people assume that it’s risky to take these drugs. The medications most widely prescribed for ADHD, methylphenidate and amphetamine, are controlled substances - meaning they have the potential to lead to abuse and addiction. “Starting a new job, or having a child may activate a genetic vulnerability,” says Richardson. In adulthood, any major life change can mean increased risk.

Half of all adults with untreated ADHD will develop a substance use disorder at some point in their lives.

From this age on, rates of abuse and dependency skyrocket. Whatever the explanation, trouble usually starts in adolescence until age 15, people with ADHD are generally no more likely than people without ADHD to experiment with drugs. Genes associated with risk-taking and novelty-seeking behavior may predispose an individual to both ADHD and substance abuse. “There’s an increased rate of substance-use disorders in close relatives of people with ADHD,” says Dr. Fewer graduate from high school and college, and they earn less money.īiology is another factor. Compared to people without the disorder, those with ADHD are often less successful academically. There are other ADHD-related factors that can raise the risk for substance-abuse problems. “I used to think, ‘They don’t care if I’m a little crazy, if I don’t finish sentences, and walk out of the room while they’re talking.'”

Jennifer, 29, of Fayetteville, Arkansas, felt that having ADHD made it hard for her to fit in - except with the crowd that smoked marijuana. The impulsivity, poor judgment, and social awkwardness that often come with ADHD pave the way to overindulgence, regardless of the consequences. When I drank, I didn’t care that I was bored.” I could be sitting in an interesting lecture and be totally bored. I didn’t drink to get smashed, but to concentrate and get my homework done.” Drink eased other ADHD miseries, too. In college, she recalls, “My mind was so out of control, and drinking would make that go away. That was the case for Beth, 27, a special education teacher in Ft. They need something to calm their brain enough to be productive.” “But inside, they’re just as hyper as ever. “When people with ADHD get older, the hyperactive component often diminishes,” says William Dodson, M.D., an ADHD specialist in Denver. “Seventy percent are doing it to improve their mood, to sleep better, or for other reasons.” This kind of “self-medication” seems especially common among individuals whose ADHD remains undiagnosed, or who have been diagnosed but have never gotten treatment. “In our study of young adults, only 30 percent said they used substances to get high,” says Timothy Wilens, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Why are substance abuse and addiction such issues for adults with ADHD? “If you have difficulties in these areas and you keep on using, you definitely have a problem.” It’s about how your use affects your relationships, health, work, school, and your standing with the law,” says Wendy Richardson, a marriage and family therapist and certified addiction specialist in Soquel, California. “Abuse isn’t about how much you’re doing or how often it happens. Alcohol and marijuana were the substances most commonly abused.

That’s nearly triple the rate for adults without ADHD. A recent survey found that more than 15 percent of adults with the disorder had abused or were dependent upon alcohol or drugs during the previous year. Intoxicants are risky business if you have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Quit all vices