Link between ADHD and addiction often overlooked, new insights reveal

Gaby Guzek highlights the often-missed neurological connection between ADHD and substance dependence, urging integrated diagnosis and treatment to prevent self-medication and long-term harm.

Gaby Guzek has spent years looking for the hidden thread between addiction and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and she believes it is still missed far too often. In an interview published by Der Standard, Guzek said about one in four people with alcohol dependence has underlying ADHD, while the overlap is even higher with some other substances. That link matters because, as she and her daughter Lisa Guzek argue, many people with ADHD are unknowingly treating themselves with alcohol or drugs rather than simply misusing them.

Lisa Guzek’s own diagnosis did not come until she was 26, after years of being told, in effect, to manage her concentration problems another way. She described a long and frustrating path to assessment, one that was made harder by the very executive-function problems associated with ADHD: the need to organise appointments, wait for callbacks and keep pushing for help. Medical News Today and Healthline both note that people with ADHD are at greater risk of substance use disorders, in part because they may try to blunt untreated symptoms through self-medication.

The Guzeks frame that relationship in neurological terms. Gaby Guzek told Der Standard that ADHD is, in simplified form, a dopamine issue: the brain’s reward and motivation system does not regulate stimulation in the usual way. Alcohol and other drugs can temporarily increase dopamine signalling, which may make a person feel calmer, more focused or less overwhelmed. That helps explain why a substance can seem to improve concentration, even when it is ultimately worsening the underlying problem. Psychology Today has recently made a similar point, arguing that the ADHD brain’s reward circuitry can leave people more vulnerable to compulsive use.

Lisa Guzek offered a striking example from her own life. While preparing for a driving theory test, she struggled to retain the material. But after an evening out in which she drank alcohol, she found herself able to study effectively and remember the answers the next day. She said the experience was alarming but also revealing, because it strengthened her suspicion that something deeper was going on. The episode also illustrates a wider pattern described in the literature: stimulants, sedatives and other substances can affect people with ADHD in ways that appear paradoxical to those without the condition.

The Guzeks also want the medical world to stop treating ADHD and addiction as separate silos. Healthline and other clinical overviews say the most effective treatment plans address both conditions together, rather than chasing only the addiction or only the attention disorder. Gaby Guzek said people being treated for dependence should be screened for ADHD, especially if they report that alcohol, cannabis or stimulants seem to quiet racing thoughts, reduce sensory overload or make them feel more organised. She added that modern ADHD medication is carefully dosed and not comparable with recreational drug use, particularly when doctors choose slower-release preparations.

For families, the message is less about labels than about timing. Gaby Guzek told Der Standard that untreated ADHD can lead to shame, school failure, bullying and later depression, all of which can increase the risk of addiction. Lisa Guzek said support, medication when appropriate and practical strategies such as noise-cancelling headphones or simple household routines have made daily life far more manageable. Their core plea is straightforward: if someone repeatedly feels that alcohol or drugs make them function better, clinicians should consider whether ADHD is part of the picture. According to the broader research, that is not a niche possibility but a common and still under-recognised one.