Discover Top Posts Tagged with #adhd comorbidity

ADHD’s non-developmental-disorder lookalike: BURNOUT

so you relate to like every ADHD/ADD mood/feel post on your dash!

but when you look up ADHD/ADD diagnosis guidelines, you see things like:

‘symptoms must have started in early childhood/by the age of 3/7/12’

‘symptoms must be disruptive in at least 2 out of 3 life arenas throughout life’

which ... isn’t the case for you.

if you suffer from ADHD/ADD-esque concentration & follow-through issues as a late teen/adult, but you’re pretty sure that you weren’t having those symptoms early on/growing up: you might be dealing with burnout.

An increasingly-common affliction in the American working class, burnout is related to the brain being overworked &/or frequently or constantly flooded with stress hormones.

things that can trigger/lead to burnout:

having a stressful/high-stakes life/job

working long, tedious hours doing something that does not stimulate or relax the brain (such as rote homework)

being bombarded by new information (i.e. social media)

constant anxiety about money/health/basic life necessities

lacking the means for/neglecting necessary self-care (getting enough sleep & eating properly)

having to constantly choose between too many options without meaningful ways of narrowing the choices down (i.e. shopping online)

all of the above w/a minimal or nonexistent support network

in other words: burnout is induced by living the average life of like 90%* of American adults under the age of 40!!!!

(*not a real statistic. I’m just saying a lot of us millennials/gen z ppl are burning out.)

burnout can look a LOT like adult ADHD/ADD because it seriously fucks with executive function. some symptoms ADHD/ADD & burnout have in common:

struggling to concentrate

feeling paralyzed when asked to make decisions

procrastinating on ‘simple’ or ‘nonessential’ tasks

difficulty prioritizing work/errands/tasks

burnout also takes on depression-like symptoms such as:

feeling tired, exhausted, &/or irritated all the time

feeling like nothing matters/everything is ‘the same’

isolating oneself from others

changing appetite

the thing about burnout is: even if it looks like ADHD/ADD (or depression) to you, the treatment for burnout is nothing like the treatment for ADHD/ADD (or depression). it mostly involves getting rest & reducing stress (as if most of us have this option, but that’s a post for a different blog!) this is why it’s important to get the correct diagnosis - so the treatment can be the right one.

of course, that being said:

people with ADHD/ADD can also get burnout. in fact, ADHD/ADD can exacerbate burnout symptoms: it’s already hard enough to make decisions when the brain is healthy, much less when it’s so stressed you can barely think!

tl;dr:

because capitalism is a cruel mistress, a lot of people are just struggling to executive function b/c we’re burnt out by stressful, non-stop lives with no work-life separation and too many too-same buying options every time we try to buy something as simple as dish soap.

if you’re pretty sure you don’t have ADHD/ADD (or cousin developmental disorders such as ASD) but severely struggle with concentration/executive function, or you feel like you have ADHD but lack the developmental history to back it up: you might have burnout.

and your problems are still valid & still deserve treatment & management!

#actuallyadhd #actually adhd #burnout #burnout treatment #adhd102 #SO MUCH BURNOUT STUFF IS ONLY ABOUT WORK BURNOUT #even though there's LOTS OF OTHER THINGS THAT CAN BURN YOU OUT #I blame capitalism #you are more than your job #adhd comorbidity

Is it possible to have ADHD and (mild) depression? Bc I think that I do, but I have literally no time to go to someone who could diagnose me.

it is absolutely totally 100% possible to have adhd and depression at the same time. in fact, adults with adhd are more than twice as likely to have major depression disorder than non-adhd people. D: we’re also 3 times as likely to have any mood disorder and 2.5 times as likely to have an anxiety disorder.

for reference, here’s a chart I borrowed from this free-to-read study comparing incidence rates of mental ilnesses.

in short, adhd is comorbid with a lot of mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, behavioral disorders, and substance additions :( (science-y folks think adults with adhd often don’t know about the adhd and only get treated for the comorbid problems, contributing to undertreatment of adults with adhd.

obviously I can’t say if you have comorbid depression and adhd, but it’s definitely possible. like, almost-1-out-of-5-people-with-ahdd-also-have-mdd possible.

#adhd depression and you #adhd comorbidity #adult adhd #adhd adult #actuallyadhd #actually adhd #SCIENCE!!!#adhd102 #not a professional #wildefire

so, I'm 25 years old and over the last year and a half I've begun to suspect I have ADHD. My mom has been diagnosed with it and my brother is autistic so it would make sense for me to have it genetically. I've done a ton of online tests and the # is always really high. So I went to a psychiatrist but he put me on epilepsy meds and tested my brain waves which came back normal. Idk what I should do. I'm considering bringing up my concerns with my Dr, cuz I dont feel like I'm being heard about this

wow, that’s .... huh.

this perplexed me so much I did a little research:

turns out that the FDA approved brain wave tests as a diagnosis tool in September 2013! ... for children and adolescents. (that second link goes straight to the FDA papers about it, for the record.) it’s also not a stand-alone diagnosis tool, but must be accompanied by a full clinician evaluation.

anticonvulsants can be used to treat adhd, but usually they’re prescribed for adhd people who have been diagnosed with seizure disorders already from what I can tell. it’s possible I’m wrong though!

like 1/5th to 1/2 of people with epilepsy have adhd or adhd symptoms. which surprised me for a hot second, but then I remembered that adhd was connected to brain injury before it was connected to heredity.

so, uh ... I can’t find any information about studies that show adhd adults have unusual brain waves? and if you live in the US, the FDA has straight up not approved that test for your age group.

regardless: you absolutely deserve an evaluation that involves more than an EEG. a good evaluation will include interviews with a psychologist, interviews with people who know you well, various diagnostic tests, and inquiries into your childhood. (it isn’t adhd if you didn’t have it as a kid.)

I think bringing it up with your doctor is an excellent plan. if you trust your regular doctor, they are in the best position to help you consider your options and the possible causes of your adhd-like symptoms. general practitioners can also usually give you referrals to the appropriate specialists anyway, so connecting with your doc about it seems like good practice!

#adhd diagnosis #adhd epilepsy and you #adhd102 #adhd comorbidity #not a professional #damgiftshop

That moment when you're only diagnosed with one neurodivergent condition, but while researching the various ways the neurodivergent conditions are similar and different from each other and start noticing some long term behavior of yours that implies you've actually got more than one.

Anyways I've only ever officially been diagnosed with ADHD, but the more I look, the more it seems like I've got something else going on up there too.

Which wouldn't surprise me, like ADHD runs in my family, but so does a slew of other things like Bipolar and Autism. I'd honestly be more surprised if I only managed to inherit only ADHD considering how neurodivergent both sides of my family is.

#adhd #adhd comorbidity #it's like when you get a special edition brain you also gain access to all the other expansion packs too

now with it being ADHD Awareness Month I’d like to bring up that I don’t think compulsive lying is talked much about in relation to adhd? I’ll discuss as best I can but it won’t be very good sorry,,,,,

so with adhd a problem is an inability to regulate our focus, that being caused by a lack of stimulation in the brain and a constant search for things that stimulate us. that makes it hard to, for example, spend hours studying. and with memory problems, we’re constantly prone to forgetting even most important things. this makes a lot of adhd brains frustrated and feel like disappointments for not meeting expectations, or not getting work done on time, or forgetting crucial things, or not paying attention, and we feel or are called lazy and uncaring (ex. “if you cared you would’ve remembered”; “smart child who doesn’t put in the work”, etc).

correct me if I’m wrong but because of this some adhders may resort to lying so as not to disappoint others, which then may make the situation worse. it could be a small thing like saying you did remember to take out the trash or you did finish that assignment, when you actually haven’t. or it might also be thinking you weren’t lying but the person may see it as a lie; if someone told you something previously but you ended up forgetting / zoning out and denying they told you, that person may assume you lied when in reality you forgot / never heard what they said which isn’t compulsive lying but a lie made by discrepancy in communication. a lie could also be made because of the symptom of impulsivity; you blurt an answer without thinking, and your answer was not true by accident. people may think you’re inconsistent and unreliable, and/or it’s too late to correct yourself so you go with it to avoid the shame of the lie. adhd brains might also use lies to cover up problems made by their symptoms.

for example RSD (rejection-sensitivity dysphoria) is very commonly linked with adhd. it’s an extreme fear of rejection in short. to avoid being rejected, they might lie to others about themselves to continue getting approval from peers or strangers and avoid the painful, crippling embarrassment that comes with rsd, or just shame and disappointment in general.

another example being work as mentioned before. my focus is basically nonexistent and I barely complete my homework. someone on the same boat might be getting papers from teachers to tell parents that their child has missing work or not efficiently working, and they might hide or lie about it, telling them that everything’s under control, to avoid concern or disappointment from the parent. or they might lie to get out of doing boring tasks such as homework or chores. it’s basically digging themselves a hole as the cycle continues.

us adhders know the painful consequences that the symptoms we struggle with cause, and for some, lying is a way to avoid the consequence, although not a very good strategy to do it. i’m no therapist, but communication is important with this. talking to the person may help instead of angrily assuming right away that the person purposefully was untruthful; that person with adhd can also reach out for help too if lying becomes a bigger problem for them. also having a better understanding of the one with adhd, making sure you’re clear with them and checking that they’re clear with you. as well as giving methods or avenues to help them generally or with compulsive lying if that becomes a big problem.

im no good at these informative writings but I hope this made sense!! it’s a thought I had in mind for a while and although I have, like, 3 followers maybe some more adhd brains will see this and if other folks with adhd see this you can educate me if I incorrectly stated something or start a discussion about this or similar connections!!

for me a lot of the time this applies when I’m working on something else and someone’s asks me “are you working / have you finished your work” and I’d quickly say yes or almost done when I haven’t started, to avoid disappointing them and avoid how harsh my mother is with me. people also are crazy angry at me for saying “I don’t know”. so I have to take a guess of “yes” or “no” to avoid people getting angry which usually is a lie/inaccurate. the moment I accidentally slip “I don’t know” my mother especially goes ballistic on me every time.

Im also super sorry about grammar/punctuation and how disorganized my information is jxsknxkshdknd i jump all over the place and repeat points a lot

I love researching adhd and other mental health topics (weird I know) and am intrigued by the different things adhd causes not widely known!! and lots of comorbid conditions occurring simultaneously too. adhd is not just “can’t-sit-still-disorder”, there’s so much more involved.

I definitely can’t take all the credit for this, in the middle of writing this I looked up “correlation between adhd and compulsive lying” and read a few articles for extra points to add. I’ll link a few!!

adhdcenterforsuccess.com/site/what-is-t…

additudemag.com/adhd-and-lying…

psychologytoday.com/us/blog/liking…

(there’s much more but google can help with finding that jkdjskdj sorry)

anyway I hope this helps someone, and that it made somewhat sense; thank you for reading this long thing ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

#ADHD Awareness Month #adhd #actually adhd #compulsive lying #adhd comorbidity #peppoco speaks #long post tw #long post #something i write on twitter for adhd awareness month and wanted to put here too!!#this topic came to mind and intrigued me so i wrote something about it but its not good sorry

ADHD and Anxiety

So, I didn't feel like doing a bunch of lists today. INSTEAD, I found a cool article about how common it is for people with ADHD to have Anxiety.

"Of the patients referred for anxiety, the prevalence of lifetime ADHD was 37.5% (48.5% male, 51.5% female, p<0.05). “The prevalence of lifetime ADHD was higher in our anxiety disorders clinic than that found in the general population,” he concluded.

Among those with ADHD, comorbidity was the rule rather than the exception. ADHD was significantly associated with a primary diagnosis of impulse control disorder and bipolar disorder and most commonly associated with social phobia (57.6%, NS) and major depressive disorder (56.6%, NS)."

{https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/apa2012/anxiety-disorders-and-adhd-comorbidity-rule-not-exception}

The study conducted by the US Department of Veteran Affairs concluded that comorbidity of ADHD and anxiety disorders is so common among patients, that every veteran receiving treatment is to be tested for ADHD.

#comorbidlife #adhd comorbidity #comorbidity #anxiety #psychiatric times #adhd #psychology

Define Comorbidity

"Comorbidity is the medical term for two or more disorders that occur at the same time. In general, individuals affected by ADHD often have other behavior disorders that impact their ability to function successfully. The comorbidity of ADHD with other disorders is between 60% and 80%."

{https://www.mentalhelp.net/articles/adhd-comorbidity/}

A QUARTER of all ADHD kids have a mood/anxiety disorder. As an adult, I personally, have been diagnosed with General and Social Anxiety and Depression.

As a group, people with ADHD also have a higher substance abuse comorbidity. I personally struggled with alcoholism when my disorders all became too much to handle. After getting on medication, I was able to get a handle on my drinking. Now, I maybe drink 2 bottles of whiskey in a year. Maybe.

Anywho. There are a few disorders that are more commonly comorbid with ADHD than others.

List TIME

Depression

Anxiety

Oppositional Defiance Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Conduct Disorder

Sensory Integration Disorder

Learning Disorder

Early Speech/Communication issues (both of my siblings had speech impediments)

Tomorrow-ish I'll post the symptoms of the most common ADHD comorbid disorders.

Sidenote: I'm not a doctor. I take medication because it helps me. Your treatment plan is between you and your doc. Do whatever y'all think is best for you. Also don't give up if the first few tries don't work.

#adhd #comorbidity #disorders #mental health #adhd comorbidity