ADHD - Addictive Tendencies | ADHD Information

Share
[QUOTE=bcgirl1978]I never got into smoking or drinking thanks to the wonderful examples provided by my parents. My father was a binge alcoholic while I was growing up, and both my parents chain-smoked my whole life. I have fond memories of my mother yacking up phlegm each and every morning. Yet for some strange reason which I will never comprehend, she does not even WANT to quit.

Food however...  yes, a weakness of mine too. I have a terrible time saying no when faced with it. It's something I am REALLY trying to work on though. I'm trying to train myslef to have "everything in moderation", hoping that I will not feel deprived that way.
[/QUOTE]

I smoked for a few years, and one day I woke up congested and hacking up stuff. I quit that day and never had once since! It was gross. I kind of miss it though. It was relaxing and it was something to do when I was bored. Don't have anything to do? Go outside and have a cigarette! When you don't smoke and just go stand outside, people think you're weird heh. And it gets you a lot of breaks at work too! Oh well, I'm almost 30, so I guess it's time to grow up.

HM, addictions:

 

mmmmmmmm. chocolate!! arctic ice cold sweet ice tea! caffeine! i....want.....now!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am, however. addicted to this board, minesweeper (Why?!!), Free cell (Why??), spider Solitaire (WHY???) even though they are soooo boring and I have REAL video games to play. These are just comforting relaxing obsessions.

Yeah, my whole family has many, many examples of addictive behaviors and looking back now, I think a lot of them may have had ADD too.

I believe part of it is subconsciously trying to self medicate.  My dad was also a binge alcoholic,  my brother has struggled with cocaine abuse(a stimulant) and both my sister and I had a bad pot habit.  It's funny, but to see us no one would suspect it.   We all more or less held down jobs, took care of personal grooming and other stuff.   Most people would have never guessed we were all just on the edge.  I bet many people live their lives like that.  Not at all like the media tends to show addiction; all junky-like and strange. 

But it does catch up to you in the end.  If you really want to see a scary side effect of addiction, check out this site.  He has lots of brain scans of what long term addiction can do to the old noggin.      http://www.amenclinic.com

I know myself I started smoking pot in college to deal with the anxiety about falling behind.  Like many here I did OK in primary and high school, not great but OK.  But once I got into college everything fell apart.  I got so anxious about going to class I literally trembled( and I'm not normally a nervous person) A hit or two of pot took the edge off. 

BUT, it was a terrible catch-22 because it greatly increases ADD symptoms.  Even non-ADD people can seem like they have it if they smoke enough pot long enough.  So, I gave it up.  But it was hard and I fell off the wagon from time to time.

Now I'm just addicted to caffeine and chocolate! Oh yeah and food too!

Barb

BarbJ38476.4874421296

xaiev,

Have you been diagnosed by a doctor yet?  The reason I ask is that it seems once an ADHD person get on proper medication for ADHD at the right dose, a lot of the cravings for drugs slowly goes away.  It's not a matter of strength!  Your brain is trying to make you feel better and that's hard to fight.

I did a lot of those things for years and I totally understand the feeling of 'Normalness' they can give you.  I quit pot on and off for years, because I got a lot more stuff done when not smoking, but often went back because I got too anxious and angry when I didn't smoke.  Now that I'm on ADHD medication I really don't even think much about it any more.  The only other time I quit for a long time was when I was on diet pills( a stimulant).

Good luck,

Barb

damn it, i'm addicted to tobacco, pot and to some extent to lsd, amphetamines and recently alcohol.

i'e started drugs about 4 years ago and at this time i didn't know i was adhd but drugs were affecting me more than every ppl i knew. When on drugs i feel like a "normal" guy, i'm not so impulsive, i let ppl finish their sentences etc... i know it's slowly killing me but i don't have the strength to quit

cheers [QUOTE=floofthegoof]I don't know if this poster is ever coming back, but I think the addictive tendencies by ADDr's has alot to do with our basic impulsivity. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to avoid getting into drugs and smoking, even though I was surrounded by it in college. All my friends either smoked pot or ciggarettes, or other things. I think that deep down I knew I wouldn't be able to do such things casually.

I have a problem sometimes with pigging out. Preventing obesity is something that takes constant effort with me. I can *always* enjoy a snack, and I think about it way too much. If I had gotten into drugs, I'd be dead by now I'm sure of it. [/QUOTE]

I have problem pigging out too. I love food! It tastes so good! It is one of those things that take so little effort to do (eating is not hard), and provides instant rewards. I guess sex is in the same category...Embarrassed While I'm not fat- I've always been skinny, I'm not healthy or fit.

With drugs, I can't stand pot. It makes me paranoid and braindead feeling. My father was a big smoker, and even though I really like the feel and smell of smoke ( the few times I've tried), I am scared of cancer and stuff like not being able to swim long distances without getting out of breath.
I like alcohol, but don't like getting drunk. Tipsy is the limit.


[QUOTE=floofthegoof]

I have a problem sometimes with pigging out. Preventing obesity is something that takes constant effort with me. I can *always* enjoy a snack, and I think about it way too much. If I had gotten into drugs, I'd be dead by now I'm sure of it. [/QUOTE]

Same here. My addiction was food (not anymore due to Adderall). Food would always make me feel better and I didn't feel it was bad like drugs/alcohol/etc.

I never got into smoking or drinking thanks to the wonderful examples provided by my parents. My father was a binge alcoholic while I was growing up, and both my parents chain-smoked my whole life. I have fond memories of my mother yacking up phlegm each and every morning. Yet for some strange reason which I will never comprehend, she does not even WANT to quit.

Food however...  yes, a weakness of mine too. I have a terrible time saying no when faced with it. It's something I am REALLY trying to work on though. I'm trying to train myslef to have "everything in moderation", hoping that I will not feel deprived that way.
I don't know if this poster is ever coming back, but I think the addictive tendencies by ADDr's has alot to do with our basic impulsivity. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to avoid getting into drugs and smoking, even though I was surrounded by it in college. All my friends either smoked pot or ciggarettes, or other things. I think that deep down I knew I wouldn't be able to do such things casually.

I have a problem sometimes with pigging out. Preventing obesity is something that takes constant effort with me. I can *always* enjoy a snack, and I think about it way too much. If I had gotten into drugs, I'd be dead by now I'm sure of it.
                      April 2005 - Volume II - Issue IV 
                                   ADHD - Addictive Tendencies
Statement: My intent in this newsletter is to express as quickly as possible my own beliefs and opinions on matters. I have no problems with people who disagree with my opinion and have even been swayed to rethink my position from time to time.
We are still taking book orders for my new book "ADHD and The Criminal Justice System", and you can get my author's discount from the AMAZON.COM price at this link... book order http://www.addcorridorcoaching.com/book.asp
The first ADHD poster a positive approach to ADHD is also available at this web site
Read more about the poster http://www.addcorridorcoaching.com/poster.asp   NEWSLETTER
Many persons with ADHD struggle with tendencies toward Addictive Behaviors.  These can range from Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling, Sexual addiction, Risk Taking, Over Spending, Relationships, Eating Disorders to Co-Dependency.
Often Times these persons were not diagnosed with ADHD until later in life. (Many people with these addictions remain undiagnosed for ADHD).  These addictive behaviors may have started out as coping mechanisms to deal with under achievement, self doubt, poor self esteem and depression.
As children they may have been labeled with terms such as lazy, unmotivated or disruptive.   Many of their parents and teachers saw them as under achieving who were not meeting their obvious intelligent capabilities.  They may have shown their parents, teachers and even themselves that they were capable of focusing and paying attention to areas that interested them.  Then seeming to struggle in areas that were difficult or for which they lacked interest.
Since everyone has areas in which they lack interest and force themselves to work through the problem, these people often view those with ADHD as lacking willpower, unmotivated and lazy.  What they fail to understand is that those with ADHD would love to be able to adapt like “normal” people.  The neurological transmitters in the brains of those with ADHD just do not operate as efficiently as they do in others.
In addition, many people criticize parents who put their children on medication. They feel that giving medication is a crutch that is used and even abused to deal with the childs “character flaw”.  There is a common tendency for people to struggle with medications being used to help people with brain disorders.  These same people seemingly have no problems with the drugs and medications used to treat other bodily disorders such as diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure, heart problems and the like.  Many parents are also reluctant to have their children “labeled” with a “disorder” like ADHD. Apparently they fail to realize that their children are already being labeled by their peers, teachers and others due to their conduct or failings.
Another common concern is a belief that medicating children with drugs will result in them being more susceptible to drug or alcohol abuse as teens and adults.  All recent scientific studies on this however have shown the opposite to be true.  Children and teens who are prescribed ADHD medications are less likely to develop drug and alcohol and other addictive behaviors as they grow older. 
Addictive behaviors usually begin by the “thrill” feelings that the drugs, alcohol, gambling, spending, sex and other things give us.  These feelings are usually short lived.  Medications do not cure ADHD but rather help with symptoms.  It is much like wearing glasses helps us see better and taking them off returns us to our previous poor eyesight.  After awhile the responses we get from these stimulants and activities decrease the “thrill” element.  We then continues to the addictive behavior as a way to cope with low self esteem, depression and other underlying problems. The consequences of our continuing use or abuse of is not the same as putting on and taking off necessary glasses.  Instead the underlying problems originating in the brain are exasperated because of the dysfunctional aspect of addiction such as impairment in functioning, dependency, money problems, violations of laws and relationship problems.
In summary I want to assure those of us who use medications to treat our ADHD or our childrens ADHD that properly diagnosed and treated use of medication closely monitored in my opinion errors in the favor of a advantages on a risk/reward ratio.  Proper treatment of children, teens and adults with ADHD can improve their lives and is just as important as the quick and aggressive treatment of any medical disorder.
The earlier a person with ADHD can experience improvement in self esteem, confidence, reduction in conflicts with teachers and parents and depression the less likely they will succumb to perils of other addictive substances and behaviors as they grow older.
Thanks and talk to you next month.
Patrick Hurley
addcorridorcoach@aol.com 
http://www.addcorridorcoaching.com 
If you know on anyone who might like this newsletter please forward it to them and tell them to go to my web site at addcorridorcoaching.com and sign up.    after being addicted to everything I could get my hands on.I would have to agree with the adhd advocate. My Daughter has been dianoised with adhd as well.she went from a 55 average to an 85 average!!!!Hopefully her life will be alot easier then mine was. I always thought and was told I was STUPID!She is now 14.Hopefully she will not have to go through the hell I did.I know the medicine is NOT a cure all but it sure does help.wish someone would have noticed it in me like i noticed it in her.For those of you who have had issues with substances (pot, cocaine, alcohol, etc...), were you honest with your docs about this while being evaluated for your ADHD, and did it affect the docs decision as to whether or not to prescribe ritalin/adderall?Lets see.... addiction.I have been addicted to alcahol,addicted to drugs,, addicted to smoking.I think I am a little addicted to shopping,o.k maybe not a little.I think I am still in a bit of denial on the shopping one.But my husband tells everyone I am a shopaholic,Its like Every time I clear up 1 addiction,another one pops up!Man,what a life!