Wellness

Addictions and ADHD: Breaking the Cycle of Gambling, Sex, Gaming & More (W/ Todd Love, Psy.D.)

ADDitude Magazine
ADDitude Magazine•Apr 8, 2026

Why It Matters

Recognizing behavioral addictions as a neurobiological extension of ADHD enables more effective, evidence‑based interventions, benefiting clinicians, patients, and companies developing ADHD‑focused therapies and support platforms.

Key Takeaways

  • •ADHD overlaps with 20‑40% of behavioral addictions disorders
  • •Dopamine reward circuitry drives both ADHD impulsivity and addiction
  • •Tolerance and withdrawal manifest as escalating behavior and mood distress
  • •ASAM defines addiction as a single brain‑reward disorder, including behaviors
  • •Targeted ADHD interventions can reduce compulsive gambling, gaming, and sex

Summary

The webinar hosted by Attitude Magazine featured Dr. Todd Love, a licensed therapist specializing in adult ADHD and behavioral addictions. He outlined how ADHD frequently co‑occurs with non‑substance addictions—gambling, sex, internet use, gaming and social media—affecting roughly one‑quarter to two‑fifths of those with these disorders.

Love presented epidemiological data and neurobiological mechanisms, emphasizing that the ADHD brain’s mesolimbic dopamine pathway is hypersensitive to reward cues while prefrontal executive control is underactive. This imbalance creates a “too much limbic, not enough cortical brake” scenario, driving novelty‑seeking, impulsivity, and the pursuit of dopamine spikes from addictive behaviors. He highlighted genetic overlaps between ADHD and addiction, and explained how tolerance (escalating risk) and withdrawal (negative mood states) appear in behavioral contexts.

A pivotal point was the 2011 ASAM redefinition of addiction as a single brain‑reward disorder, legitimizing behavioral addictions alongside substances. Love cited Dr. Nora Volkow’s work linking dopamine dysregulation to both ADHD and binge‑eating, suggesting future classification of certain compulsive eating patterns as addictions. He also warned against conflating withdrawal with detox, clarifying that mood disturbances, irritability and insomnia can follow abrupt cessation of a “behavioral drug.”

For clinicians and the broader ADHD market, these insights underscore the need for integrated treatment protocols that address both executive function deficits and reward‑system hyperactivity. Targeted pharmacologic and behavioral interventions—such as stimulant therapy, cognitive‑behavioral strategies, and structured routine building—can mitigate the cycle of compulsive gambling, gaming, and sexual behaviors, ultimately reducing healthcare costs and improving quality of life for millions of adults with ADHD.

Original Description

In this hour-long webinar with ADDitude, Todd Love, Psy.D., explored the science linking ADHD and behavioral addictions, explain the toll these behaviors take on daily life, and highlight strategies that promote recovery.
This ADHD Experts webinar was originally broadcast on October, 21, 2025
Download the slides associated with this webinar here:
8:00 why are people with ADHD predisposed to addiction?
9:00 neurobiology of addiction
10:00 dopamine and ADHD
11:00 idea of behavioral addictions is not new
13:00 2011: ASAM released a new def of addiction that changed everything : one single disorder. groundbreaking
14:00 truth about tolerance and withdrawal. riskier bets, more extreme porn, escalation. withdrawal is easy to misunderstand - a negative mood state, not the shakes. It's not the same as detox.
16:00 Gambling Addiction
17:00 "treating ADHD also treats the disease"
18:00 "our phones are little slot machines in our pockets"
19:00 modern tech design -- design loops fuel compulsive use
21:00 Internet Use Disorder - debate around this. valid medical diagnosis outside of US
23:00 internet porn addiction -
25:00 assessment tools for problematic porn use - clinical signature
26:00 non-porn visual sexual addiction
27:00 sex addiction is not an official addiction
29:00 ADHD-specific drivers for sex addiction
31:00 research on adhd and internet addiction
35:00 facts on internet addiction and adhd folks - men and women, all kinds of adhd
36:00 short form video exposure -- implications
39:00 downstream effects: time blindness, emotional dysregulation, we try to de stress by doing this, but it releases more adrenaline, more cortisol, interrupts sleep, distorted self perception. multi tasking -- shallow processing leads to cognitive fatigue
41:00 difference between problematic use and addictions, Avoidance, Action
44:00 setting up safe environments where access is made less easy.
50:00 "Don't delay gold standard ADHD treatment because of worries about addiction 0- it backfires."
51:00 feed your brain novelty - its not a bug, its a feature
55:00 how to deal with shame?
57:00 how to deal with problematic shopping? Add friction back in - don't save your cc on sites, no one-click.
58:00 Pruning the dopamine garden -- deleting everything that has auto play and infinite scroll. disable most notifications. "use apps that serve your goals not your cravings"
Related Resources:
1. Free Download: Too Much Screen Time? How to Regulate Your Teen’s Devices
2. Read: Is My ADHD Teen Addicted to Porn?
3. Read: Addictive Technology and Its Impact on Teen Brains
4. Read: Video Game Addiction: Signs, Risk Factors, and ADHD Links
Subscribe to the ADDitude YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3d1NVczqxa-cQzFt2iVSw
Visit the ADDitude web site: https://www.additudemag.com
Follow ADDitude on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/additudemag/
Follow ADDitude on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/additudemag/
Follow ADDitude on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/additudemag/

Comments

Want to join the conversation?

Loading comments...