Woman with ADHD explains why drinking alcohol with disorder is different

Whether you fall into bushes (guilty) after one too many, manage to keep your act together (not guilty), or find yourself somewhere in-between, it’s clear that booze changes us to some capacity.

But according to Chantelle Blinco, if you have ADHD, you’re going to experience alcohol in a different, potentially more dangerous, way.

This specific condition sees those who have it experience the world through their need to chase dopamine – the hormone responsible for providing pleasure regulation.

This can sometimes see those with the neurotype engage in risky behaviour, which is often known as ‘dopamine chasing’, and can see them take on hobbies with a large risk vs reward (gambling, shopping, or other disordered conduct).

However, Blinco says ADHD makes drinking alcohol not the ‘same’ as it is for others because of this need for pleasure.

She shared on TikTok that alcohol for an ADHD person, is a way to ‘calm’ the mind of whirring thoughts.

“You’ll find people with ADHD don’t have an in-between,” she explained in her clip, which has 28.5 thousand likes.

Noting that those with attention deficit hyperactive disorder either stay sober or ‘get smashed’ when drinking, there’s no middle ground for those with the condition.

This is why she said ‘alcohol is a suppressant for us’ against the ‘one hundred miles an hour noises in our head’ and ‘battle’ with ‘ADHD traits’.

She explained that alcohol acts as a cooling blanket for ADHDers, allowing them to essentially stay on one level, instead of fluctuating between highs and lows.

However, she goes on to explain that those with ADHD will drink until they drop, because unlike other people, they don’t have a mental ‘line’ that tells them they’ve had ‘enough’ to drink.

So, they end up drinking too much after getting hooked on the ‘silence’ away from the mental noise.

This very well could be why ADHDers are more likely to develop alcohol-related problems.

According to DrinkAware, research suggests around ‘two in five people with ADHD may develop alcohol‑related problems’ because the alcohol lulls them into a false sense of safety.

The website states alcohol may provide those with ADHD a ‘sense of calm or reduced anxiety, but this effect is temporary — and drinking can make ADHD symptoms harder to manage over time.’

It added: “Alcohol is a depressant, meaning it slows down the brain and affects judgment, focus, and impulse control.”

It explained that alcohol triggers a release of dopamine during the first few drinks, which can then ‘improve mood, increase motivation, or reduce feelings of stress or overwhelm’ in those initial moments before the dopamine levels fall.

Again, because ADHD people typically chase the highs of dopamine, Drink Aware notes that it can ‘make drinking feel rewarding in the moment but more difficult to manage over time’.

So while it’s true that alcohol is beneficial for quieting the mind of those with ADHD, it ultimately could prove to be a downfall if chasing the continued dopamine fix.