SignPost The Right People
Many NEURODIVERGENT substance users slip through the net
These profiles show how autism, ADHD and combined autism and ADHD may contribute to substance use. They are not intended to suggest that every neurodivergent person has the same experience, more a tool to help sign post the right people into this recovery programme.
Referral Profiles
Profile One: An ADHD Adult
This person may have spent much of their life feeling restless, inconsistent or unable to manage ordinary responsibilities in the same way as other people.
They may struggle with timekeeping, organisation, unfinished tasks, emotional intensity and impulsive decisions. Their mind may feel constantly busy, while periods of boredom or low stimulation feel almost physically uncomfortable. Rejection, criticism or perceived failure may trigger a rapid and overwhelming emotional response.
Alcohol may initially help them feel calmer, more confident and less self-conscious. Stimulant drugs may appear to improve energy, concentration or social stamina. Substance use may also provide excitement, reward and immediate relief from distress.
However, impulsivity can make moderation difficult. One drink may become many, or a spontaneous decision may lead to risky behaviour. The aftermath can involve shame, anxiety, depression, missed responsibilities and damaged relationships. Those feelings may then trigger further use.
What they may need
They may benefit from structured physical activity, immediate achievable goals, external routine, supportive accountability and healthier sources of stimulation and reward. Recovery bouldering, yoga & improv offer short, focused challenges, visible progress and repeated opportunities to reset after difficulty.
Profile Two: An Autistic Adult
This person may appear independent but spend much of their life masking discomfort and confusion.
Social situations may require constant conscious effort. They may rehearse what to say, copy other people, conceal sensory distress and analyse conversations long after they have ended. Workplaces, public transport, busy venues and changing expectations may leave them physically and mentally depleted.
They may feel lonely while also finding ordinary social environments exhausting. They may have experienced bullying, exclusion, misunderstanding or repeated relationship difficulties. If diagnosed late, they may have spent years believing that something was fundamentally wrong with them.
Alcohol may help them speak more freely, tolerate noise, join groups or appear socially relaxed. Drugs may reduce sensory overload, numb distress, assist focus or provide a reliable ritual. At home, substances may reduce loneliness or provide relief after a full day of masking.
Over time, the person may become dependent on substances to socialise, leave the house, recover from work or manage emotional pain. As use increases, isolation, depression, anxiety and physical risk can also increase.
What they may need
They may benefit from predictability, clear communication, low-pressure social contact, sensory consideration, consistent familiar faces and opportunities to form relationships around a shared activity rather than conversation alone.
Profile Three: An Autistic and ADHD Adult
A person with both autism and ADHD may experience apparently conflicting needs.
They may need routine and predictability while also craving novelty and stimulation. They may be highly sensitive to noise and crowds but impulsively seek intense social experiences. They may desperately want friendship while finding social communication confusing and exhausting. They may create detailed plans but struggle to begin or maintain them.
Their ADHD traits may increase impulsivity and emotional intensity, while their autistic traits may increase sensory distress, social fatigue and the need for recovery time. The effort of managing both can produce severe exhaustion and a sense of being permanently overwhelmed.
Alcohol or drugs may seem to solve several problems at once. They may provide stimulation, reduce inhibition, dampen sensory awareness, quiet racing thoughts, soften emotional pain and make social connection feel possible.
This combination can become especially difficult when a person wants to stop. Sobriety may initially remove their main method of socialising, regulating emotions, tolerating environments and escaping loneliness. They may then find both mainstream social spaces and traditional recovery groups inaccessible.
What they may need
They may benefit from an environment that is structured without being rigid, stimulating without being chaotic and social without demanding constant conversation. The services available at The Recovery Community can provide physical regulation, problem-solving, novelty, routine and connection within the same activity.
Summary of Profiles:
When deciding if Recovery Through Bouldering is the correct route for someone, please note that a lot of neurodivergent people experiencing addiction slip through the usual routes to recovery, usually not scoring high enough on the standard alcohol or drug tests. Most of these tests rely on the person being a daily heavy user.
A lot of neurodivergent users are binge users, going through inconsistent periods of using, then abstinence for many years even decades, before their reliance on using becomes inline with a high score on the drug & alcohol tests.
Please bear in mind these are the people who are at huge risk of fatalities because they slip through the system, not deemed to be ‘addict enough’ for help through the NHS, leaving them to go back to their own isolation to try and deal with an impossible situation. They use to be able to fit in to society, not to escape it.
Therefore we are looking for neurodivergent individuals who use substances to cope with life, who may not score high enough to receive help from recovery charities, state funded rehabs & NHS help.
Referrals from people whose neurodiversity makes other initiatives like 12-step programmes unhelpful as it clashes with a lot of the same social pressures that normal society creates. Often the same social pressures that made them turn to substances in the first place.
We are looking for neurodivergent people who do not meet the criteria for help through usual routes & have found 12-step programmes a hinder rather than a help.
How It
Plays Out
From Self-Medication to Dependency
Across the profiles they all share common risks for long term self medication turning into full time addiction as shown below:
Daily neurodivergent distress
Sensory overload, anxiety, masking, executive-functioning difficulties, impulsivity, loneliness, emotional dysregulation or burnout.
Discovery of short-term relief
Alcohol or drugs reduce discomfort, increase confidence, provide stimulation or enable social participation.
Repeated reliance
The person begins using substances before social events, after work, during loneliness, in response to rejection or whenever overwhelmed.
Growing consequences
Tolerance, dependency, bingeing, risky behaviour, worsening mental health, damaged relationships, financial difficulty and physical illness.
A reinforcing cycle
The consequences of substance use create more anxiety, shame, depression and isolation, which in turn increase the desire to use.
Increased danger
Without suitable support, the person may face accidental injury, exploitation, overdose, severe depression or suicide.
Neurodivergence, Substance Use and the Need for Adapted Recovery Support
Understanding the Population:
Recovery Through Bouldering is designed for autistic and ADHD adults who use, or have previously used, alcohol and drugs as a way of coping with daily life.
Substance use within this population cannot always be understood simply as recreational behaviour or poor decision-making. For some neurodivergent adults, alcohol or drugs initially perform a practical function: reducing anxiety, quietening an overactive mind, easing sensory distress, making social interaction feel possible, helping someone mask their differences, or providing temporary relief from loneliness, depression and emotional overwhelm.
This can appear to work for years, sometimes decades. However, a coping strategy that provides immediate relief may gradually become habitual, harmful or dependent. The person can then become trapped in a cycle in which the substance temporarily reduces distress while also worsening their longer-term anxiety, depression, impulsivity, physical health, relationships, financial stability and suicide risk.
The evidence therefore points towards the need for recovery support that addresses not only substance use itself, but also the underlying reasons the person began relying on substances.