Half of young adults with ADHD struggle with substance use disorders, according to a study published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism.
Specifically, one-third of adults with ADHD studied had a chronic alcohol use disorder compared to 13% of adults without the condition. Data was compiled from the nationally representative Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health (CCHS-MH). Participants included 6,872 respondents aged 20-39, 270 of whom had ADHD.
Researchers found that participants with ADHD faced higher odds of developing alcohol use disorders, cannabis use disorders, other drug use disorders, and any substance use disorder. A history of depression and anxiety “led to the largest attenuation of the ADHD-SUD relationship, followed by childhood adversities, and socioeconomic status.” More than 1 in 6 participants used illicit drugs such as LSD, cocaine, or heroin.
Even after considering factors such as age, race, income, education, childhood adversities and other mental illness, young adults with ADHD were still 69% more likely to have had a substance use disorder when compared to their peers without ADHD.
University of Toronto professor and study author Esme Fuller-Thompson explained: “People with ADHD may be self-medicating with drugs or alcohol to keep their depression under control, and of course, that is a recipe for disaster.”
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While the study didn’t explore how ADHD treatment affects risk for substance abuse, Fuller-Thompson said that cognitive therapy “has been shown to have a very positive effect symptoms, substance abuse problems, and depression and anxiety.”
Untreated ADHD can make it challenging to adhere to a substance-abuse-treatment program, and lack of impulse control may increase the odds of breaking sobriety.
This is especially relevant in the black community where, already subject to unique discrimination at the intersection of gender and race, Black adults with ADHD often remain undiagnosed because their symptoms are mischaracterized. Signs of inattentiveness or impulsivity, two main features of the disorder, could be mistaken for laziness or defiance. And the longer these adults aren’t diagnosed and treated. The more their problems are likely to worsen as they grow.
