Self-medication of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms with psychoactive substances in adults: a scoping review of how symptom-relief motives are framed and operationalised across substances

Marios Adamou, Christos Petrou

IntroductionAdults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) use tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, cocaine and non-prescribed stimulants far more than the general population. The self-medication hypothesis holds that people with ADHD, including those undiagnosed, use substances to relieve core symptoms rather than for recreation or shared vulnerability to addiction, and is widely invoked to reframe illicit su…