There is evidence pointing to a “novelty” gene which is thought to be present in both ADD and addiction. Both addicts and ADDers seek high levels of novelty and stimulation. Although addicts seek drugs, ADDers can find other avenues to high arousal activities .ADDers can also become addicts in a number of other stimulating activities.
As an ADD coach, I had difficulty at first finding strategies for clients who are trying to start a project, because they will spend most of their time on Face Book, Twitter or My Space and get none of their tedious work done. For these clients, I now use a model which is similar to the first step in addiction treatment.. .that is, “detoxing”. Typically they need to be in withdrawal completely from the Internet for several days. This means that they need a partner or friend to change their password temporarily. If they need the Internet to do research, it is essential that either a friend gets them material, or, believe it or not, they can go to the library with a friend as a monitor.. After the withdrawal period, they can use the Internet contingent upon completing 80% of their planned tasks ( which are planned in consultation with me).
This approach works with many ADDers.
