Neurodiversity & Addiction

People with ADHD or autism are far more likely to develop a substance use disorder, yet addiction services rarely account for this overlap. This MSc project will analyse existing data to measure how common substance use disorders are among people with ADHD and autism in the UK, and whether those individuals are actually accessing the services they need. The core problem is a gap in knowledge: clinicians and service commissioners do not know the true scale of the overlap, nor whether current addiction treatment pathways are failing neurodivergent patients. If the research succeeds, it could provide the first concrete prevalence figures for co-occurring substance use disorders and ADHD or autism in a UK service context. That data would give addiction services, GPs, and mental health teams a clear signal to adapt screening protocols and treatment approaches. The practical impact would be on healthcare delivery—specifically, how addiction services triage and treat patients who may need adjustments for neurodivergence, rather than being offered a one-size-fits-all programme that does not work for them. This is a small-scale MSc project, so it will not produce a new treatment or policy, but it could generate the evidence needed to justify a larger study.