To ask what happens if you take ADHD medication

[RestingandSmilingBFace]

...but you were misdiagnosed and actually it's trauma that makes you present in an ADHD way.

Anyway think they've had this experience?

I do believe ADHD is a thing but I also think it can be very tricky to work out if it's that your trauma.

Thank you

Thanks @Courgeon that's really insightful and fascinating. What is the reset trauma therapy? So

@AP5Diva ah hah. Well I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing I'll have a proper read later. Thank you!

I can tell you what adhd meds do for adhd.

For me, my adhd is a lot like being in a room with 100 screens and each is playing a different image and audio, all concurrently. When I take the medication it's like the majority of the screens begin to play the same thing and I can tune into a specific task or though. They become linier and one at a time, I can see the order in which events happen and which take priority. I can focus on one thing.

If you don't have adhd I imagine the effect would be a stimulant so instead of clarity you will experience anxiety, feeling scattered, hyperactivity, inability to sleep.

I think you are unnecessarily worrying tbh, certain symptoms of ADHD and PTSD overlap, but a professional psychologist is going to be able to see the difference through their assessment. It’s also possible to have both ADHD and PTSD. So I’d leave it to the professionals.

@Rainbowsandbutterflies1990

am curious as to why u would think you would be more qualified than an actual professional who assesses if people have adhd ?

Are you really curious? Or are you just being passive aggressive? I do not think I am more qualified than a professional. And I don't know if she is traumatized or has ADHD. I am not invested in either result. I am invested in her getting an accurate diagnosis and support.

Please quote me on what I have wrote that makes me appear like I am against her getting an ADHD diagnosis.

"Firstly, people aren‘tADHD, they may have ADHD, but you can[t say someoneisADHD.Well I actually prefer ADHDifferent. I believe in the neurodiversity movement." Um do you have ADHD? If not please don't label people with ADHD as anything.

If your partner has ADHD then her symptoms would have been present in childhood. Assessments are very thorough, and go back to childhood.

If someone without ADHD is given a stimulant medication then it will act like a stimulant. In ADHD regardless of if you're hyper or not it will calm your brain, inattentive ADHD doesn't mean there's nothing going on in our brains it means there's too much going on and we can't concentrate.

That fucking Panorama program has done do much fucking damage it's unreal. It was so poorly researched.

Here's the response to the Panorama program from the ADHD foundation:

https://www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/2023/05/15/response-to-bbc-panorama-private-adhd-clinics-exposed/#:~:text=The%20over%20reliance%20on%20a,how%20to%20manage%20ADHD%20successfully.&text=We%20are%20disappointed%20that%20BBC,sensationalist%20piece%20of%20television%20journalism.

My friend was told if your not adhd then the meds won't work to help with concentration etc and you would be less able to concentrate. Trauma needs a much different approach.

That’s not exactly correct.

the OP isn’t suggesting that trauma causes ADHD- they are saying that ADHD and trauma can present in similar ways.

this is a reasonable concern, and one I struggle with (I have many ADHD traits but it may also be trauma)

besides, Gabor Mate ( MD / author/ ADHD specialist) argues that childhood trauma does indeed lead to higher risk of ADHD in some people.

nothing is proven- you can’t say with any certainty that there is or isn’t a link.

There's various therapeutic approaches for trauma, intensive psychotherapy, compassion focussed therapy, EMDR, integrative psychotherapy and others. It depends on the person and the formulation, ie What's causing the problems and keeping them going. And some therapies work better for some people than others. Some people may benefit from a more exploratory type approach, others may prefer to learn specific skills to deal with specific problems.

I think perhaps you are taking your experience and applying it too widely?

There is no one way for people who have been through trauma to present. You said for you, you don't like silences, for other people who have been through trauma it would be the opposite. Perhaps in your case it was misdiagnosed, but the overlap between ADHD and PTSD isn't that big! I say this as someone who treats trauma and clients who have ADHD.

Someone else also said above - just because you experience a traumatic event, doesn't actually mean you are traumatised. Two people could go through the same thing and one could brush it off and have little to no impact, where for the other it could change their life massively. Or, someone may be traumatised for a few years after the event and then recover.

@YouCantTourniquetTheTaint

If your partner has ADHD then her symptoms would have been present in childhood. Assessments are very thorough, and go back to childhood.

But her mum died when she was a young child...4 years old.

I admit it was passive aggressive im sorry ive been awake since 3am my autistic daughter has been awake since, i have adhd myself. , the fact u are asking is why I'm assuming u don't want her to get adhd diagnosis. If she was to go for an adhd diagnosis then it would be the professional deciding that, it didn't matter what u thought.

Professionals who are trained to diagnose ADHD and trauma are trained for years to distinguish the difference. You don't need to decide yourself what is going on for your girlfriend. The two can of course co-occur. It's great that you're so thoughtful about her though.

Yes I’ve read Gabor Mate and the subjects where childhood trauma led to higher risk of ADHD were either

1. physically abused, to include concussions. Even a mild concussion can cause the type of TBI that results in acquired ADHD. And/or
2. abused because they had ADHD. Many studies have shown that ND children and that covers ADHD, ASD are at high risk of being abused because even recommended parenting techniques for NT children are abusive when applied to ND children.

@Rainbowsandbutterflies1990 I appreciate your apology. I'm sorry you are having a tough time right now.

I have executive functioning issues and I don't know if it's just because I'm dyslexic(diagnosed) or if it's autistic inertia or if it's inattentive ADHD. My GP is getting in my way to refer me for autism and ADHD.

the overlap between ADHD and PTSD isn't that big! I say this as someone who treats trauma and clients who have ADHD.

Exactly. It only can appear similar on the surface. Professionals are trained for years to spot the differences.

Does it matter? Why are you so worried?

If someone has ADHD then stimulant meds may or may not work for them. They may get unpleasant side effects. In which case they stop them and try other medications. For some people none of the ADHD meds work.

For your partner, if she is diagnosed, she might decide to try meds. They may or may not work, and she may get unpleasant side effects and she might decide they are not for her and stop them.

It's no different.

And if they work for her, they work and that's great.

I can't see what you are worried about really.

Well I actually prefer ADHDifferent. I believe in the neurodiversity movement. Similarly people are Autistic they don't have autism.

I have ADHD and I certainly don’t use ‘ADHDifferent’ and I am not ADHD, I HAVE ADHD. And my sibling isn’t autistic, he HAS autism.

You don’t say someone IS cancer.

Trauma doesn’t present as ADHD either. Let the assessment go ahead and the person doing it, who will be a professional, will get to the crux of the issue. I wasn’t asked about trauma, I was asked about behaviours.

Someone said earlier than taking ADHD medication was like trying to watch four screens at once, well that’s what my usual brain is like. Medication helps to calm things down. Someone without ADHD taking medication will know.

I am not a fan of Gabor Mate doesn't he think there's no such thing as ADHD and it's all trauma. I don't believe that at all.

@atthebottomofthehill thank you. I am going to support her whatever she decided to do.

Ah apologies, can see I misread your post and you weren't referring to yourself but your girlfriend.

What I would say is it she is self reporting that she doesn't remember her mum and is not traumatised by the event, then believe her! It is a horrible thing to go through and must have been incredibly difficult at the time, but it doesn't mean she has been traumatised and those symptoms you shared are certainly not the main symptoms of trauma (although there can be huge overlap with all conditions).

Quite!

They screen for trauma as part of the ADHD assessment

@Sunnyfeelgood

What I would say is it she is self reporting that she doesn't remember her mum and is not traumatised by the event, then believe her!

I don't want to be shot down again for this as I am just airing my thoughts I am not saying I know better than anyone or proffesionals. But isn't the fact that she doesn't remember her mum suggest it was traumatic for her. So traumatic that she can't access the memory.

No not really. Having ADHD can seriously affect your memory, typically short term but it can affect long term memory too.