Attention Deficit Disorder

Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is estimated to affect over fifteen million Americans and as many as fifty percent of them use drugs and alcohol to medicate the symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder. The symptoms of Attention Deficit Disorder - short attention span, difficulty maintaining relationships, nervous energy, and scattered unfocused thinking, can be allayed with some short term success through the use of drugs and alcohol, however, the long term effects of any substance dependency can have life damaging consequences that can be far more harmful. What are the traits of Attention Deficit Disorder and what is their relationship to addiction? How does Attention Deficit Disorder affect adolescence?

Attention Deficit Disorder is a genetic neurological imbalance in how the brain functions. Chemical levels in the brain’s neurotransmitters are altered causing varying degrees of impulsive behavior, inconsistent activity levels, problems with organizational skills, learning and comprehension, loss of controlled attention, enhanced emotional sensitivity, and memory lapse. Subjects that are affected with Attention Deficit Disorder have brains that when flooded with input are unable to process and screen the information that is flowing through. This can lead to increased distractions as well as an heightened sensitivity to sights, sounds and feelings. This produces an overload of information - too many stimuli coming in from too many directions creating irritation and confusion . This is why people with ADD often times have spontaneous rage attacks; their inner balance can be intruded upon and is set off by something as simple as a conversation in another room or the ticking of someone’s watch. In short, people with ADD are to distracted to concentrate on the simplest of tasks. This also causes memory and recall to be very sporadic. The brain is so restless and moving so quickly that information does not have a chance to settle.

There are a number of reasons why one person is more susceptible to addiction than another. Genetic predisposition, neurochemistry, family history, trauma, life stress, and other physical and emotional problems are all factors that contribute. Part of what determines who becomes addicted and who doesn’t is the combination and timing of these factors. “Just Say No” may sound simple, but if it were, we wouldn’t have millions of children, adolescents, and adults using drugs every day. For some their biological and emotional attraction to drugs and alcohol is so powerful that they don’t think much about the risks involved. This is especially true for people with ADD who may have an affinity for risky, stimulating experiences. This also applies to the person who is physically and emotionally suffering from untreated ADD restlessness, impulsiveness, low energy, shame, attention, organizational problems, and a wide range of social pain.

Because of it’s genetic inheritance, Attention Deficit Disorder is present in infancy. The first signs begin to appear in early childhood but don’t really become noticeable until the grade school level when a child is responsible for standards of performance. Kids with moderate or advanced ADD may be fortunate enough to be diagnosed and treated. However, others who aren’t diagnosed will “fail” at the kindergarten level and be passed on to the next teacher who may not possess the knowledge or skills needed to help them. The child feels different from others causing feelings of self-defeating inadequacy and despair.

When the child reaches the developmental stages of adolescence Attention Deficit begins to factor into the behavioral equation of the teenager’s potential for personal growth. Caught in between adulthood and childhood, they now have many of the adult physical characteristics but they remain emotionally and psychologically immature. Adolescence is a very crucial and pivotal time when many individuals begin self medicating their untreated ADD through substance abuse. Understanding how Attention Deficit and addiction affects people as adolescence helps them to better understand the problems they face as adults. Like most people with addictions emotional development does not progress after the self medication of addiction begins.

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