Marcus Ward

I keep coming back to how often ADHD can still sit underneath recovery in ways that are easily recognised clinically, yet still deeply misunderstood in practice. Not just impulsivity or dopamine seeking, but the internal noise, the constant effort to regulate, the shame that can build around inconsistency, and the exhaustion of appearing capable while battling a mind that rarely goes quiet. It makes me wonder how often what looks like resistance, avoidance or lack of motivation is actually someone working incredibly hard just to stay level. And how often brilliance and struggle have always existed side by side long before either were named.

New comment 12d ago

Marcus Ward

1 like • 12d

So my addiction took off when my ADHD medication was changed (aged 12-13) and subsequently stopped (age 15) I was diagnosed at age 9. My schooling wasn't fit for a person like me, I struggled in various ways in particular the support I needed wasn't available and the massive social structures surrounding secondary education and my teen years were unbearable. I went on into young adulthood having been told by doctors and society that I had out grown my ADHD. The response to my ADHD symptoms was that I was just to slow down, stop resisting,stop avoiding, stop getting angry and get a job. No one understood the inner turmoil, the noise, the lost sense of self, the shame I felt for feeling the way I did. Not being able to speak about it in a way that would summon the help and support I needed. Age 17-29 I started work, I excelled and burned out in 6 monthly cycles, I was told that I was probably bi-polar that most symptoms are all trauma related and that I had a borderline personality/histrionic personality disorder this lead to more numbing through drink and weed. The many friends acquired would be a fleeting notion, jobs would eventually overwhelm me, and society kept up the noise that I was bad, sad and mad. I became homeless, suicidal and completely lost. Retreating to a caravan in the woods where I had a very close encounter with death. I was disregulated and disregarded no one wanted to listen nor did they have the understanding/experience to help a person with all this going on. That is a very lonely place. I found a home in an environmental/social justice protest group. I found love and connection with other people who felt the same and they kept my fire alight, this led me to seek legal support in getting support through social services in 2018, after multiple safeguardings were submitted by friends and my now ex it took the local authority a year and a half to recognise that I needed assessment and support for what is now over 20 years of falling through the cracks and being screened out by services. 2020-2026 I had waited on the ADHD waiting list, the trauma therapy waiting list, the psychotherapy waiting list, been arrested multiple times, and homeless several times.

Ruth Lilleker

13d •

💭 General Discussion

What is your opinion?

Morning all — quick thought because my brain was already off on one before 6am. The more I looked through the premium content, the more I found myself translating a lot of it straight into neurodivergence, particularly ADHD, and then wider workforce thinking. A lot of what sits underneath recovery work — regulation, environment, behaviour patterns, consistency, motivation, communication, what helps someone engage and what makes them shut down — feels highly transferable. It made me wonder how many of you see that crossover too. Do you think the principles used within recovery coaching translate naturally into ADHD / neurodivergent support, or do you think they need holding quite separately because the drivers underneath are different? Genuinely interested in where people land on it, because the overlap feels bigger the more I think about it.

New comment 6d ago

Marcus Ward

2 likes • 13d

Absolutely love this post, I can see the crossover, I also feel the intention to be included by Davids content. I'm actually looking at creating a neuro-afirming recovery method/meeting/content, it would be a space for all, breaking the stigmas of both SUD's and ND. Living with a ND brain I believe the wider community would benefit from understanding more about how the ND brain copes with SUD Would love some more input on it. 🙌