ADHD + Addictions: How They Intersect – 2019

This presentation focuses on the topic of ADHD and addiction, an often overlooked and under-appreciated problem. There are many similarities between the ADHD brain and the addicted brain, and this talk will explore the neuroscience of both. The conversation explores the complex interplay between the two disorders, and focus will also be placed on prevention, early identification, treatment, and advocacy. Special focus will be given to the problem of internet-related addictions, as individuals with ADHD are particularly vulnerable to the unending novelty that is the internet.

About Todd Love, PsyD, JD, LPC, BCC

Todd Love, PsyD, JD, LPC, BCC is a licensed professional counselor, licensed attorney, and board-certified coach, and runs a men’s counseling and coaching practice in Athens, Georgia, and online. He has published multiple scholarly publications on the topic of behavioral addictions and is an advocate for the awareness of the risk factors people with ADHD face regarding internet-related addictions. Counseling is Dr. Love’s third career. Previously he was a DUI/criminal defense attorney who made a career transition after realizing that he enjoyed counseling his clients into treatment and recovery more than lawyering for them. Dr. Love’s first career was a 14-year tenure in the corporate information technology field. Diagnosed with ADHD as a young child, Dr. Love has a lifetime of experience working with the condition. He considers his ADHD superpowers to be both helpful and unhelpful. Helpful in terms of enabling many exiting life experiences and large amounts of schooling. Unhelpful in terms of overly exciting life experiences eventually resulting in personal bouts of unhealthy behavior patterns. He considers the combination of his personal life experiences with his professional training to greatly aid his ADHD coaching and professional counseling practice.