Listening to the addictive/hyperfocus talk and just nodding. Would have been useful to know when I was a child. Or to know more when my kids were small.

I didn't realize it until much later, but my hyperfocus can be very scary and offputting to people who are not me. For me? It's one of the few ways I can actually get anything done.

Apparently clinical studies (as opposed to anecdata) have shown fairly conclusively that people with ADD/ADHD are *vastly* more likely to develop addictions than are people without ADD/ADHD.

Self-medication. See also, massive use of caffeine.

I saw a friend of mine who I assume has ADD take a hit off a joint and then get quicker at the game we were playing.

Hello, ADD/ADHD paradoxical effect. It can be interesting. Sometimes it can be fun. It's also hilarious when the pharmacist didn't get it, and openly expressed concerns that a stimulant might be too stimulating for me. Although, honestly, it WAS an off-label use.

Apparently clinical studies (as opposed to anecdata) have shown fairly conclusively that people with ADD/ADHD are *vastly* more likely to develop addictions than are people without ADD/ADHD.

That's fascinating - I'd love to understand more about the neurochemistry behind this. (In my family it's either/or, but it makes total sense that there are related underlying mechanisms.)

Apparently clinical studies (as opposed to anecdata) have shown fairly conclusively that people with ADD/ADHD are *vastly* more likely to develop addictions than are people without ADD/ADHD.

I've also seen studies that relate this to the high percentage of people with ADD in prison.

There must be some practical application for video game skills, mustn't there?

And we can't all be fighter pilots.

I get a couple hours of Laura time today! And I have ten more minutes of online before I have to leave. Um, if I'm late, Laura, there was traffic. Yes, traffic. Not that I got eated by internets, not that. Totally the traffic thing.

I'm fascinated by the ADD/ADHD thing. More and more I suspect that I am ADD, though obviously never diagnosed. It would explain SO much. I need to do some reading.

More and more I suspect that I am ADD, though obviously never diagnosed. It would explain SO much. I need to do some reading.

I don't think I am ADD, but if you find some good info could you post a link here?

Zenkitty, this is a good place to start.

I find this very interesting . Mostly because I think there is whole lot more to our body chemistry than we think . I know that I very rarely have any side effects. I also suspect that one of my drugs is not as effctive as my doctor thinks it is. I also know that back when DH and I weighed close to the same amount, and we had the same amount to drink , yo u would prefer to have me behind the wheel. Which is not the way it is supposed to be. And he is more likely to have a side effect. I also know that if something works for my sistered, it will probably work well for me

I am ADD

Editor's nitpick: I hate this phrasing. No one says "I am depression" or "I am herniated L4-L5." (If they do, send them to me and I will throat-punch them. Then they can say "I am contusion.") (Although I am aware people say "I am OCD," and while that's both a commonly used phrasing and also most likely clinically untrue for most of the people who say it, I still don't like it. It represents a slow slide towards imprecise use of language, much like the death of "decimate.")

Apparently clinical studies (as opposed to anecdata) have shown fairly conclusively that people with ADD/ADHD are *vastly* more likely to develop addictions than are people without ADD/ADHD.

Self-medication. See also, massive use of caffeine.

I think I wasn't quite clear in my previous nerdy post. The higher propensity of comorbid addictions in people with ADD/ADHD is not behavioral (as in your example, they self-medicate with caffeine, or because they need an even bigger thrill, they do coke). The scientific evidence is that there is a neurobiological/neurochemical difference going on (it has to do with dopamine, but I am WAY too undereducated to explain it).

I just think that's really fascinating. In the end, of course, it's manifested as behavior, and so one could *call* it behavioral, but it's not behavioral in origin.