Greater Risk of Addiction for ADHD Sufferers

It seems that the treatment drugs prescribed to children with the disorder are not responsible for the higher than average rates of substance abuse within ADHD populations. Addictions professionals cannot say with certainty what causes the increased rates of abuse, but they speculate that the learning and academic difficulties as experienced by adolescent ADHD sufferers increases their social isolation, can induce feelings of depression, and even expose them to some ridicule amongst their peers. The symptoms of ADHD may create a social environment conducive to substance use and abuse.

Additionally, some people who had remained undiagnosed with the disorder until drug treatment have stated that the use of stimulant drugs such as cocaine or meth amphetamine actually improved their ADHD symptoms expression, and through illicit stimulant drugs they were better able to focus and contribute productively at school or on the job. ADHD patients in drug treatment may have developed addictions as they used illicit stimulants as a way of self medicating their ADHD symptoms.

ADHD sufferers are also more likely to engage in risky and impulsive behaviors, and this symptom of the disorder may also promote further substance abuse.

Researchers are not certain what mechanisms are inducing the abuse, but they can say that a diagnosis of ADHD greatly increases the risks for later problems with substance abuse and addiction. Although between 3% and 5% of the population are afflicted with ADHD, the rates of substance abusers with ADHD are between 10% and 30%. Additionally, research has shown that adolescents with ADHD use drugs and alcohol at a younger age and with more frequency than normal, and that those ADHD patients with the severest symptoms expressions demonstrated the heaviest drug and alcohol abuse.