Depending upon the research study, between 21% and 53% of adults with ADHD will experience alcohol dependence or abuse at some point in their lifetime. And, turning it around, it’s been estimated that 25 percent of adults receiving treatment for alcohol and other drug abuse have also been diagnosed with ADHD, which leads experts to believe that there’s an important link between ADHD symptoms, ADHD treatment, and substance abuse.
As a therapist, I’ve always known that mixing mood stabilizing drugs with booze is not a good thing. I’ve now done some research that shows that this is also true of the pairing of ADHD medication with drinking. Pairing Adderall with alcohol can be downright life-threatening.
At our house, the holiday season has always been a special time of problems as well as joys. The excitement of the holidays, the additional social interactions, the special demands of gift-giving and receiving, and the departure from routine all may be either especially stimulating or especially stressful -- to all of us, but especially to those in our family with ADD. We always want to have a happy, loving, yummy holiday time. Instead, we typically would either end up all yelling at each other, or in tears, by the time the holiday actually arrived.
It is with some humor that I say that a very sensitive area of conflict for many couples is driving. Most commonly, the conflict centers around the poor driving habits of an ADHD spouse (and why they can't/won't change them) and who is going to drive when. There is more here than meets the eye, though, so I thought I would explore it a bit. If you have conflicts over driving, read on!
