ADHD Is adhd really ptsd in disguise?

[The Albatross]

I was actually treated for a year and a half with a nationally recognized therapist for ADD/ADHD before my PTSD diagnosis. I have both apparently and like someone else has mentioned, seem to be able to sort out which is PTSD and which is the ADD more of the time now. I never had heard of the "hyper focus", I do that when I'm in work mode, it is a way to cope and stay on track to the exclusion of everything else. People have noticed and commented about this over the years, but had never known of this aspect.

 

[Lucycat]

I think the visiting shrink is a whack job and out there on a planet other than her peers. No doubt she has some explanation for those who have ADHD and have had a great childhood raising, other than the attention deficit.

I think it is quite important that there are people willing and able to step outside the box and explore the less obvious. I am not suggesting that she goes and changes anybody's diagnosis, but she is making a suggestion - a theory.It will open discussion and debate and maybe some research to find more evidence to support her hypothesis or otherwise. This was a discussion at training for a group of professionals with an interest in trauma.

I don't know what her background is, or how great her knowledge of ADHD.

I guess what grabbed my attention when T told me about this, is that I do personally know a number of children with a diagnosis of ADHD and without exception they have all had traumatic lives. This does not mean there are not loads out there without histories of trauma, but just that I don't know them.

I am interested on here in the discussion by those who have both diagnoses. I don't understand how you can know that a particular symptom is a result of one condition or the other. I guess what I am asking is like if you have eczema and psoriasis how do you know which condition is responsible for this bit of flaking skin at this time?

Or as another example, if I had arthritis and also carpel tunnel syndrome how would I know which condition is causing the pain in my wrist today?

I am interested in your answers to this and how you come to that conclusion.

 

['91 Girl]

Like both of your above examples, they look and feel slightly differently. I know the difference between inattention because I am just distracted right now, and inattention because I am stressed. I also know that PTSD doesn't make me hyper. I think it becomes easier to tell them apart because PTSD severity comes and goes. So the symptoms that come and go with PTSD are caused by that, and the symptoms that remain steady regardless are probably caused by ADHD.

 

[The Albatross]

Lucy Cat, all I can say is that for me, ADD/ADHD thoughts are often fleeting, scattered, unfocused and flooding but emotionally there is no blow back. PTSD thoughts pack an emotional or body reaction, and are tied to memories of traumas, triggers, retrieving repressed memories and produce anxiety, fear, anger/rage, fight/flight/freeze/faint, sometimes it causes compulsive or obsessive thoughts or suicidal ideation.

Early on, I couldn't discern the subtle differences. It takes a lot of presence of mind for me to be able to sort it out, but having had a good deal of practice, it is a pretty spontaneous self check now. It is not though 100% accurate, but is more of a two thirds thing. It is like my physical situation, trying to discern the difference between an allergic flare up, or catching a cold or the flu. I focus though on the emotional impact more though and the types of thoughts I am being flooded with to give me cues about which is which... just like I focus on what I ate, or what my environment has been, or if someone infected has had contact with me to give me clues about my physical state. It is not perfect, but it has helped me to recognize that not all my thoughts destructive. Some are ADD/ADHD, some are PTSD.

Not convinced I answered very well. Best I can do today. I could write an essay about it probably... because there are lots of little tells and cues for me. It is just something that I learned by trial an error.

 

[The Albatross]

Forgot to say, another tell is that if it's PTSD, I can't go into "work mode" without a lot of preparation and self care beforehand. If it's ADD/ADHD, I can shift into attending to one thing and choose to exclude or ignore the other stuff for a set duration of time. It started small and I can stretch it to 4 hour shifts now. PTSD crowds into whatever I'm attending to and takes more mental gymnastics to keep myself in check emotionally and I can not fully attend to whatever is before me. It's more of a punt situation than an ability to run with the ball. Though both affect my performance, it is the PTSD ones that are most often the ones that cause me to buckle into a quivering impotent mass of flesh. ADD/ADHD doesn't do that.

Also depersonalization or disassociation or lost time do not occur if I'm "just" ADD/ADHD. I skip a bit, like a scratched record, but I am grounded and in my body. My brain though has "fireworks" and it's short circuiting but "I" am present.

 

[Abstract]

ADD/ADHD thoughts are often fleeting, scattered, unfocused and flooding but emotionally there is no blow back

The only problem with this is that dissociation does not have to come with the blow back you speak of. Especially if it is very habitual.

rying to discern the difference between an allergic flare up, or catching a cold or the flu

I like this analogy as there is no way of me telling to start. Often I have to monitor things in certain ways to be able to discern between the two.

I do personally know a number of children with a diagnosis of ADHD and without exception they have all had traumatic lives.

Lucy, I think its an interesting discussion. I think the controversy would be if "they all have PTSD". I don't see that as possible. But I can understand the debate about trauma possibly triggering the development of ADHD. Along with the other variables that are normally involved such as genetics and environmental factors.

I also wonder if it has to be trauma proper. Maybe it could also be abuse in general or poor parenting. I am thinking of a child that I know here. I sincerely doubt there was any trauma and he has great parents but there is no doubt that his home life is volatile and his father is rejecting of him.

I would love to know more about what she said if you want to share.

 

[Lucycat]

I would love to know more about what she said if you want to share.

I wish I had more to share! I am not seeing T again ( unless I have a crisis!) so can't really find out any more at the moment. If I do hear from him I will ask him for some more detail, if he is at liberty to share it with me. I might just send him an email, for him to look at after his Easter Holidays.

 

[The Albatross]

Abstract? It is a 2/3rds thing for me. It is not 100% accurate. I perhaps have a tendency to subscribe more to my ADD/ADHD because it falls under the decision I made to myself. Examine other perspectives and possibilities rather than defaulting to the initial habitual thought/emotion and in the absence of facts, pick the one that best serves me moving forward.

It may not be accurate when I sort things out, but if I attribute more to my ADD/ADHD than I do my PTSD... I can most often continue to function and do my responsibilities on a day to day basis. I'm just sharing what my personal process is. It may make not one wit of sense to anyone else here, but it works for me and helps me to be at a more generally favorable baseline on a day to day basis. It also bumped my starting emotional place from moderate to severe stress or anxiety to stoic, neutral, or calm.

I made a decision not to blindly accept that everything is my "worst" diagnosis. If facts are not present, then I chalk it up to my ADD/ADHD brain and can take a look at my activities, caffeine intake, scale down multi tasking, etc. Even if I'm dead wrong, the core decision of choosing the most beneficial belief in the absence of facts improves the quality of my day to day life.

 

[Lucycat]

the core decision of choosing the most beneficial belief in the absence of facts improves the quality of my day to day life.

I think this is a bit like Occam's Razor. An idea that I try hard to utilize.

 

[Pencil]

if it's PTSD, I can't go into "work mode" without a lot of preparation and self care beforehand. If it's ADD/ADHD, I can shift into attending to one thing and choose to exclude or ignore the other stuff for a set duration of time. It started small and I can stretch it to 4 hour shifts now. PTSD crowds into whatever I'm attending to and takes more mental gymnastics to keep myself in check emotionally and I can not fully attend to whatever is before me. It's more of a punt situation than an ability to run with the ball. Though both affect my performance, it is the PTSD ones that are most often the ones that cause me to buckle into a quivering impotent mass of flesh.

This describes my problem with focus very accurately.
I'm off topic again, but needed to note this.