My point is not that abuse is the cause of ADHD, although it certainly increases the risk for it, but that early childhood stress is the major factor—abuse being only an extreme form of childhood stress. It is the impact of early stress on the brain—maternal depression, for example—that creates vulnerability to ADHD and to addictions. Stresses or interruptions in the infant–mother relationship lead to permanent alterations in the dopamine systems of the mid-brain and prefontal cortex, disturbances that are implicated in both ADHD and in substance abuse and other addictions.
