Keep the low point in view
ADHD makes it hard to bring past experience into the present ('out of sight, out of mind'), so the memory of how bad an addiction got fades exactly when a craving hits. Counter it by keeping concrete evidence of the low point where you'll see it now, and deliberately pulling that memory into the moment.
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One of ADHD’s core challenges is bringing past performance and experience to bear on the present moment (a point Russell Barkley emphasises). For addiction recovery this is a specific trap: the deterrent that should fire during a craving — the memory of how terrible things got — is precisely the thing that’s hard to summon, because it’s out of sight and therefore out of mind. The fix is to keep that memory tangible and within reach in the present: a written account, a photo, an object, a note kept somewhere you’ll actually encounter it, anything that serves as concrete evidence of the low point. Then, when the urge appears, deliberately bring that evidence into the now and look at it. You are compensating for a memory system that won’t volunteer the warning on its own by externalising it and forcing the recall at the moment of decision.
