What kept me up last night was the question whether one of my reasons for diving headlong into an alcohol addiction years ago has something to do with symptoms that are strongly related to ADHD.

I don’t know as of now if I have ADHD or not. I simply add together one and one and relate many symptoms that made my life pretty hard during school and university education and even in working in my job.

Some things are definite: 1. I have problems concentrating, 2. I rend to have problems regulating emotions, 3. I have problems keeping my impulses at bay, 4. I have an anxiety disorder, 5. My mind is spinning like a tornado.

Yes, alcohol had a giant influence of depressing and dampening down all the problems and it made me feel better for a short amount of time.

Now I have quit drinking and there are many questions that arise. Many of these questions can be calmed down after I do sports or indulge in all the funny things I wrote about earlier, giving me a bouquet of mechanisms to boost my dopamine and my mood and concentration.

What is the takeaway?

1. It is a relieving insight that all the things I’m incorporating now are the same things a behavioral therapist would suggest.
2. Going back to alcohol wouldn’t make it any better. It would only make things worse.
3. I should have a doctor check if I have ADHD. Therapists and psychiatrists even say that Methylphenidate can make SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, i.e. antidepressants) obsolete.

That’d be great!

Until next time: Take one step at a time, and never lose faith in yourself!