The Prevalence and Treatment of Addiction and ADHD

ADHD is a significant risk factor for the development of addiction. It is more common in individuals with addiction than in the general population (Emmerik-van Oortmerssen et al., 2012). Since estimates of the prevalence of ADHD in addiction vary widely, an international multi-center study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of ADHD in various countries and among diverse addicted populations (van de Glind et al., 2014).

Nearly 3600 patients were included in this study, and the average ADHD prevalence was 14%. Jellinek has also initiated treatment research for this target group. Since the effect of medication for ADHD in patients with addiction issues varies, and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for ADHD is effective in adult patients with ADHD without comorbidity, researchers and practitioners at Jellinek have developed an integrated treatment combining cognitive-behavioral therapy for ADHD with addiction treatment.

The results of this research indicate that this new integrated treatment protocol for addiction and ADHD is effective: ADHD symptoms decrease more with combined treatment.