In My Head: ADHD And Addiction

Hi,

Hello,

How are you?

Welcome to In My Head,

A new series of talks that I'm going to be giving on Insight Timer,

Specifically related to mental health and emotional well-being.

My name is Shanna Moyer.

I'm a mental health counselor,

An ADHD management specialist,

And a trauma support specialist based out of London,

Ontario.

I'm also a human who exists with late-diagnosed ADHD,

And I'm a parent of two neuro-spicy ADHDers.

I know a thing or two about how the brain works,

Why we are the way we are,

And how the world just has not been created with neurodiverse humans in mind.

So my hope with this new series of lectures here at Insight Timer is that you will take away one little sliver,

One nugget,

Every single time,

That helps you understand your brain and helps you embrace who you are.

Today we are talking all about ADHD and addiction,

A topic that was requested from the community here at Insight Timer.

If you ever have a request of a specific topic,

Please just let me know and I am more than happy to tackle it in one of these lectures.

ADHD and addiction is something that I know both personally and professionally,

And it's a topic that can be a little hard to digest,

So let's get into it.

The current research shows that about 21% of boys and men with ADHD and 13% of women and girls with ADHD abuse drugs and alcohol.

If we think about what drugs and alcohol do within the brain,

It's a quick chemical release of dopamine.

ADHDers are impulsive and are constantly seeking forms of stimulation that provide the chemical release of dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine is our reward and motivation chemical,

So if you think about how good it can feel when you've had a couple of drinks,

That uninhibited intoxication,

Or think about how good it can feel in the brain if you have imbibed in some other type of substance.

It's providing that reward and motivation,

But in a very temporary way.

Afterwards,

When you have sobered up,

There's a lot of shame and anxiety,

The emotional toll that addiction and addictive behaviors within those impulsive behaviors of ADHD can wreak havoc on someone's life.

ADHD very simply is the result of fundamental abnormalities in dopamine transmission.

We don't make enough of it,

Therefore we chase the things that make us feel good,

Whether they are healthy things or they are unhealthy things.

Addiction doesn't necessarily mean drugs and alcohol specifically or solely.

It can be sexual addiction,

Gambling addiction,

The hyper fixation on anything that feels good.

This is why a lot of ADHDers will invest themselves fully and completely into a new hobby.

Think about someone who works out every single day,

But not just your standard 30-minute workout.

I'm talking about the two-a-day or someone who spends over an hour in the gym and it is an entire part of their personality.

They are getting dopamine from that action.

Now there's a healthy balance in working out to manage your mental health and working out in excess because you like the dopamine that comes from it.

And how do we achieve that?

Through moderation,

Largely.

I'm sure you've heard about everything in moderation is okay.

All food groups are good and food is fuel.

Absolutely.

Everything in moderation,

Especially if you have ADHD.

So making a plan around how and why,

Under what circumstances,

You will use drugs,

Alcohol,

Sexual activity,

Investing yourself in these hobbies,

Giving yourself a time frame and parameters and limitations,

Boundaries around these things,

Is so important to make sure that we don't go into addiction.

There is a genetic predisposition as well.

If ADHD runs in the family,

Looking at the behaviors of people that you are intimately and genetically connected to,

Do they also have issues with drugs,

Alcohol,

And other addictive things?

That will make you predisposed to those same addictive behaviors.

Now I know that it's really complicated because the first type of treatment that is always offered to someone with ADHD is a stimulant medication.

And it can sound kind of counterintuitive.

Why are we giving stimulant medications to someone who is predisposed to addiction because of the way that their brain is wired?

But the stimulant actually helps calm,

Regulate,

And organize the brain.

Oftentimes,

ADHDers forget to take their medication.

I am guilty of that on an almost daily basis.

And I'm not even taking stimulants necessarily.

Supplements,

CBD,

All of the different integrative medications that are out there,

We still forget to take them.

So yes,

We are predisposed to addictive behaviors because of the chase of dopamine.

But sometimes we forget that those things are actually helpful to us.

In my practice of helping other humans with ADHD manage their brains,

I always recommend having some kind of calendar on your fridge where you can give yourself a dopamine rush by simply giving yourself a checkmark.

So whether it is your hobby calendar of these are the times and the dates of when I will engage in said activity,

Or it's a workout calendar that gives you the organization that your brain is craving,

You can get that additional dopamine rush by simply having a marker in a fun color off to the side and giving yourself a checkmark every day.

Doing those simple everyday tasks,

But making it a game so that your brain is engaged the entire time.

Things that are healthy to lean into would be things like working out with moderation,

Cooking,

Music,

Art,

Journaling,

Creative outlets that give you a physical representation to what is going on inside your brain.

It often calms the hyperactivity and hyperactivity is its own animal.

In boys and men,

It's often exerted from the body as restlessness or that driven by a motor kind of way of thinking.

In girls and women,

Hyperactivity is almost always up in the brain.

It's overthinking,

It's internalizing,

It's rejection sensitivity.

So if we couple all of that with dopamine deficiency and the want to feel good,

Of course addiction is part of the equation and part of the conversation.

It's finding the balance between addictive behaviors,

Dopamine chasing,

And things that help us organize and stimulate,

Regulate the brain and our emotions.

Get a calendar,

Write down the days that you want to devote yourself to healthy behaviors like working out,

Cooking,

Cleaning,

Dancing,

Singing,

Music,

Going out with friends.

Schedule it in for yourself and start noticing that the way your brain feels is a little bit different.

Just because ADHDers are predisposed to things like addiction doesn't mean we will all enter into those waters.

We have to be careful,

Intentional,

And mindful about the situations that we expose ourselves to,

The company that we keep,

And the things that we put inside our body.

If it works for you,

Keep doing what you're doing.

And if it doesn't,

Reach out to someone who can maybe guide you through the process of choosing healthier alternatives.

As always,

If you need to reach out,

I am here for you.

You can message me through the inbox system here at Insight Timer,

Or you can join me over in Emotion Sessions,

The circle that we have where we talk about mental and emotional well-being.

Until next time,

Keep leaning in.

Lean into how your brain works because I promise you life is so much better when we can seek to understand our brains and meet ourselves where we are instead of forcing our brains into situations and a world that simply was not designed for neurodiversity.

Your brain is beautiful and you are not broken.

You just have ADHD.