Whilst both addiction and ADHD are unique experiences for each individual affected, our increasing understanding of both conditions enables us to see how they interact to potentially make addiction both more likely to occur and more tricky to overcome. So if you have ADHD, or ADHD tendencies, 

​understanding how it affects you will enable us to tailor your addiction treatment plan.  

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It is easy to see how certain substances and high-challenge or exciting behaviours can be a form of self-medicating to supplement the brain's neurobiology.  We can also see that the inclination of some people with ADHD to, for example, be impulsive, seek quick rewards, struggle to regulate their emotions and enjoy risk-taking, are obvious ways that ADHD can lean people towards experiences and behaviours that are likely to become addictive. 

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But on a more personal, and perhaps more subtle, level people with ADHD also describe how they have turned to activities and substances to relieve feelings of emptiness; inadequacy; self-loathing or confusion that being a person with ADHD in our society has left them with.  And these means of helping themselves to feel better in the short-term, have taken on a ‘life of their own’ and created greater problems in the longer run.

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So therapy with addiction and ADHD is about much more than understanding the neurobiological tendencies – although that is important and current research certainly informs our work.  Individual therapy is a deeply personal exploration leading to a unique plan for your future.

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For those clients who would like to have more certainty about their ADHD ‘status’, I also offer Gold-Standard ADHD assessments that follow the UK Adult ADHD Network (UKAAN) Adult ADHD Assessment Quality Assurance Standard (AQAS) and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines and standards.  Just follow the link for further information.