October is ADHD Awareness and Empowerment Month, so there is no better time to increase your understanding of this very common condition. At Cottonwood, in Tucson, Arizona, we treat a number of behavioral health disorders that can co-occur with ADHD, so it is good for our patients and their loved ones to understand how it can impact their other diagnoses.
ADHD, Mental Illness, and Addiction
As many as 80 percent of adults with ADHD also have at least one psychiatric disorder. Some of the most common among these include:
- Oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder (in about half of children, but less common in adults)
- Anxiety (in about half of adults, but less common in children)
- Mood disorders
About a quarter of adolescents with ADHD and half of adults with it have substance use disorders. People with ADHD are at greater risk for all types of addiction due to
- Increased impulsivity
- Difficulty with self-control
- Mood swings
- Having a brain that craves quick rewards
Recognizing and treating ADHD early, with medications, therapy, parenting support, academic and work accommodations, and developing healthy self-care habits related to diet, exercise and sleep can make it easier for people to avoid developing substance use disorders, as well as other types of addictions, such as screens, social media and sugar.
Types of ADHD
When people think about ADHD, they often imagine a hyperactive little boy, who interrupts people, can’t sit still and bounces off the walls. For a long time, this was also all that researchers looked for in regard to this condition. Today, however, there are three recognized forms of ADHD:
- Disruptive. This often presents similarly to the child described above and symptoms may decrease as the person enters adulthood. This type is more often seen in boys.
- Inattentive. This is more likely to struggle with focus, memory, organization and motivation. Girls are more likely to experience this type, and symptoms are less likely to go away in adulthood.
- Combined. A person with this variety will exhibit about equal amounts of the types listed above.
ADHD in Females
Women and girls not only have symptoms that look different from men and boys with ADHD, but their symptoms are also less studied and recognized. This and the less outwardly observable nature of symptoms that most often occur in females, can cause delays of years or even decades, which can lead to long-lasting adverse impact from the condition. These may include:
- Issues with self-esteem, which may be reinforced by lower acceptance of their symptoms by peers, than what boys receive for their symptoms
- Early, impulsive sexual behaviors, potentially leading to sexually transmitted infections or early pregnancies
- Heightened risk for self-harm and suicide attempts
- Increased risk of eating disorders
- Increased risk for anxiety and depression
- More symptoms that look medical in nature, such as headaches, stomach issues and nausea, sleep disturbances, sensory overload, or increased allergies and asthma
Myths About ADHD
Although many people have heard of ADHD by now, there are still a lot of myths that people believe about this disorder, such as:
- It’s not real. ADHD was first discovered in 1775 and there have been over 100,000 academic articles and references in medical textbooks about it since them.
- It’s over diagnosed. The diagnostic criteria and measurement methods have changed a lot over time and that has contributed to big fluctuations in numbers.
- It only happens to boys. The symptoms boys most often exhibit are easier for teachers and parents to see, so they are more likely to be assessed and diagnosed. In addition, girls often experience onset later, so they weren’t even being screened for a long time because they were considered too old to have ADHD by the time their symptoms became problematic, in early puberty.
- ADHD medications are addictive. People with ADHD are less likely to develop addictions if they receive proper treatment, which may include stimulant medications.
- ADHD is just an excuse lazy people use. The chemicals and structure of a person’s brain are different when they have ADHD and this can make it harder for them to accomplish certain tasks, especially those which require sustained focus, organization and impulse control.
- Kids grow out of ADHD by the time they reach adulthood. Half or more of adults who had ADHD in childhood continue to have symptoms and impairments in adulthood. Some of the people who no longer have observable symptoms may have developed coping skills or started masking.
At Cottonwood, we encourage our clients and their families to take the opportunity to learn more about the various factors that can impact mental health and addiction recovery, in order to form a holistic and well-informed understanding of their own struggles and healing process.
