Trauma can make children feel agitated, troubled, nervous, and on high alert — symptoms that can be mistaken for ADHD. Inattention in children with trauma may also make them disassociate, which can look like a lack of focus — another hallmark symptom of ADHD.
Research shows that childhood trauma can shape how certain areas of your brain form. That includes stress-sensitive structures and connections that control how you think, feel, and act. Early life stress may result in changes that cause you to have common ADHD symptoms, including: An ongoing sense of fear.
When kids are struggling with behavior and attention issues, the first explanation that comes to mind is often ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder). But exposure to trauma can also cause symptoms that look like ADHD. And trauma can be overlooked and left untreated when kids are misdiagnosed with ADHD.
Why might PTSD be misdiagnosed as ADHD? The crossover and similarity in symptoms and lack of awareness of PTSD can lead to PTSD being mistaken for ADHD. Both conditions can present in similar ways, with poor impulse control, irritability and anxiety.
Misdiagnosis. Doctors often mistake ADHD symptoms in adults for mood disorders, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other conditions with overlapping symptoms. For adults, hyperactivity can be turned inward.
Untreated ADHD in adults can lead to mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. This is because ADHD symptoms can lead to focus, concentration, and impulsivity problems. When these problems are not managed effectively, they can lead to feelings of frustration, irritability, and low self-esteem.
ADHD vs. trauma. ADHD is a mental health condition typically characterized by inattentive, hyperactive, or impulsive behavior. On the other hand, trauma is a mental, emotional, or physical response to a shocking or distressing event or series of stressful events.
In response to trauma, a child's developing brain can become programmed to “look out” for behaviour, activities or events that they perceive as threatening. This “hyper-vigilance” can often mimic hyperactivity and distractibility associated with ADHD.
Adults who have experienced childhood trauma usually have heightened levels of anxiety. They may worry excessively and have trouble managing their anxiety. It can lead to persistent feelings of sadness, lack of interest in activities, and difficulty experiencing pleasure.
Our results clearly showed that adult ADHD symptoms were associated with ACEs and emotional neglect and abuse. This was consistent with previous studies conducted with children [7. Family-environmental factors associated with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in Chinese children: a case-control study. PLoS ONE.
The correlation between TBI and ADHD doesn't prove that head trauma causes ADHD. Existing ADHD symptoms can worsen after head trauma. Most injuries do not cause ADHD, and most cases of ADHD have nothing to do with known head trauma.
For people with ADHD, however, grief and loss can be far more challenging. ADHD individuals tend to process and express emotions much more intensely. Grief and loss are part of life, but fortunately there are ways to handle it in healthy and constructive ways.
Research shows that, compared to those without ADHD, those with ADHD are more likely to suffer migraines, digestive issues, muscle pain, and insomnia. Since most ADHD brains do not linger on unpleasant issues, somatic discomforts often remain unaddressed.
Pete Walker coined the term fawn and defines it through the following: “The Fawn response is one of four defensive reactions to ongoing trauma. Those who fawn tend to put the needs and wants of others ahead of themselves at the cost of the health of their own egos, and the protection of and compassion for themselves.”
Genetics. ADHD tends to run in families and, in most cases, it's thought the genes you inherit from your parents are a significant factor in developing the condition. Research shows that parents and siblings of someone with ADHD are more likely to have ADHD themselves.
The fawn response is when an individual tries to avoid or minimize distress or danger by pleasing and appeasing the threat. Someone responding in this way would do whatever they can to keep the threat, or abuser, happy despite their own needs and wants.
Women with PTSD may be more likely than men with PTSD to: Be easily startled. Have more trouble feeling emotions or feel numb. Avoid things that remind them of the trauma.
Studies have shown that symptoms of bipolar disorder often overlap with those of ADHD, making it hard to diagnose both of these disorders. Bipolar disorder is marked by mood swings between periods of intense emotional highs and lows.
What can be mistaken for ADHD? ADHD symptoms may overlap with the signs of other conditions, leading to misdiagnosis. For example: Feeling distracted or having difficulty focusing can be a symptom of ADHD and symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Symptoms of Mood Swings in ADHD
Switching from excited one moment to sad, angry, or anxious the next. Fluctuating between having trouble paying attention and hyperfocusing on an activity. Having bursts of energy and fatigue through the day. Feeling emotions intensely and having difficulty regulating them.
Lack of consistency. Toxic communication — such as contempt, criticism, and sarcasm. Controlling behavior and distrust. Abusive — this is also inclusive of emotionally abusive behaviors, such as gaslighting, love bombing, breadcrumbing etc.
Physical and mental health problems.
The symptoms of ADHD can contribute to a variety of health problems, including compulsive eating, substance abuse, anxiety, chronic stress and tension, and low self-esteem.