ADHD and Self-Medication

Here's the thing with ADHD--we're much more likely to self-medicate. The common scenario is much caffeine during the morning/day, then much alcohol or pot in the evenings. For some--probably depending on the severity of the ADHD and their personal proclivity--it can lead to much harder drugs/methods of getting high or coming down.

Here's my experience with this. I was major into coffee in the a.m., Diet Coke in the afternoon, and mucho vino in the evenings--to the point that I was waking up with a hangover just about daily. The problem with the alcohol is that yes, it temporarily suppresses the anxiety, but makes it very much worse in the long run. For me, the much worse would be during the night; I'd wake up with my heart beating rapidly, couldn't calm my thoughts, sweating, etc. Somehow, though, I could never control the self-medicating behaviors. Recently I started on Welbutrin, which may help the ADHD some, but definitely has curbed the self-medicating behaviors.

Now, my husband is a different story. He has not been diagnosed ADHD but we are pretty sure he is. He can self-medicate for YEARS with no issues, but it eventually catches up in the form of anxiety and clinical depression. These are major bouts that last for months. The first time it happened, about 12 years ago, we didn't know what it was and he swore it was something "physical"--cancer or worse. The second time it happened was about 10 years ago--we knew it was clinical depression and anxiety, but we didn't know what caused it. Now that DS and I have been diagnosed with ADHD and are getting treated, I am almost positive that the cause of the anxiety and depression is from the self-medication. ADHD and depression are comorbid.

If your kid is ADHD, remember that medicated kids are LESS likely to end up in this self-medication spiral than non-medicated kids. Medication isn't right for everyone, but I rejected medicating him or me for the longest time because I was so philosophically opposed to it. I think there comes a time when the dangers of not medicating might pose less of a threat than just taking the drugs. Food for thought...