One in three adults with ADHD use cocaine
Between 30 and 40 percent of adults with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) are habitual users of alcohol or other drugs and may present disorders of addictive behavior more frequently than the rest of the population. The substance of abuse that is usually observed in adults with ADHD is cocaine, according to a study carried out in the Nisa Hospital.
Cocaine as 'self-medication' in adults with ADHD
Each time a greater correlation between adults diagnosed with ADHD and substance abuse or dependence. This relationship is not strange from the point of view of drug use as a 'self-medication', which means that users of substances make use of them seeking a regulation of discomfort when they do not receive the therapeutic approach they need, in order to a medication that avoids suffering.
The substance of abuse that is usually observed in adults with ADHD is cocaine, which often raises questions about the apparent contradiction of the process: if ADHD is characterized by high nervousness, restlessness and lack of concentration, between Other symptoms, how is it possible that a stimulant drug like cocaine could have calming effects?
Cocaine focuses attention on patients with ADHD
The answer is simple: cocaine use has the effect of reducing the focus of attention on a few manageable things for the person. ADHD causes too much information and details of our environment to be captured, to such an extent that our brain is unable to process everything captured and, therefore, reacts with nervousness, impulsivity, motor hyperactivity and the whole series of symptoms that characterize this disorder. . As the cocaine use closes the focus of attention to a few things, the brain relaxes and is able to focus better on one or a few activities or stimuli, being able to concentrate on only one or two things.
This is consistent with the contrasted medication that is usually prescribed to children with this same disorder, the psychostimulants and that as their own words indicate, causes an action of psychological approach in patients suffering from ADHD, according to experts.
As a prevention of this situation, experts from the Nisa Hospital assure that "we must advocate for maximum rationalization of both reliable and multidisciplinary diagnoses by expert professionals, as well as propose effective therapeutic, biological, psychological and educational alternatives. the childhood the maximum possible welfare to these children and to avoid an acquired vulnerability so that psychological difficulties or mental disorder develop in the adolescence and, consequently, to diminish the current prevalence of drug consumption and addictions in adult people who suffer ADHD ".
Marisol Nuevo Espín
