Paranoid ADD? | ADHD Information

My baby will be 9 months old on Friday.

Anyway.

The point of my post wasn't to get into the medical technicalities of exactly what ADD is and what it is not.

I was merely trying to get a little help in determining exactly what classifies as "paranoid" behavior.

There is Paranoid <believing that some orgnanization is actually stalking you, and being afraid to go out because this particular person or organization or whativer is plotting against you and waiting to ambush you, etc..>

And there's Mild Paranoia <Believing that someone is insinuating bad things when they have a conversation with you, or reading bad things into what people are saying to you.>

I honestly feel that mild paranoia (if that's what you want to call it) is a coping mechanism when it comes to ADD.

You see, things fly right over our heads.  We tend to get teased at school at lot.  Sometimes, (at least for me personally) there have been situations in which a person was craftily asking me a malicious question in an attempt to get me to answer in a way in which they could make fun of me at school.  Stupidly, I did not "get" the joke behind the question, and I would naively answer, and play right into their little traps, getting relentlessly teased. 

Eventually such situations at school have taught me to me "paranoid" in a sense that (especially if it is some one that I have had bad dealings with in the past) to question everything this person says to me, and ask of me, because since sometimes it is difficult for me to "get it" when this person is teasing me, I have to be constantly on guard to make up for slowness of "getting" it.

 

I don't know if I'm making sense.

But if just wanted to discuss the bare basics of what ADD is and is not, we really would not need a message board to talk to one another.

Each person's brain developes different coping mechanisms to deal with our AD/HD issues.

sonya_h38790.4897800926.IMac38943.8353125According to dictionary.com:

par·a·noi·a
n. A psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution with or without grandeur, often strenuously defended with apparent logic and reason. Extreme, irrational distrust of others.
I think that there are many reasons to have a rational distrust of others (and their intentions).
Having ADD and the way it impacts our self-image, the way people treat us, and the combination of the ADD traits and people's views of our "issues" causes a rational anxiety.
I don't know that it causes "paranoia" per se, in that why would we think someone is out to "get" us?  Unless, of course, there is a history of that in one's life (people hurting you).

But being worried about people focusing attention on you... is that "paranoia"?  I would think that is more anxiety and self-consciousness...?
.IMac38943.834837963

Is I quoted above from another ADD symptom website above, it can be, if it's mild.  (I.E., just thinking that people are talking about u, or, when you take an innocent comment to you or about you, and read negativity into it; I've seen a lot of people talk about that here...)

BUT I talked to my therapist today, who looked over my paperwork today.  She said that the reason why the slapped the label "schizoaffective" on me, was not because I'm paranoid, they don't think I'm that paranoid, enough to label me schizo.

But rather, they said I'm "schizoaffective" because I have a severe depression that does not let up, or have "highs and lows"  like "normal depression" does, and also because I have "disorganinzed thinking". 

So.  Apparently:

Constant severe Depression  - the usual Highs and lows associated with "normal" depression + disorganized thinking = schizoaffective disorder.

 

That sounds like a load of  to me.

 

sonya_h38790.4437268519.IMac38943.8350694444

I think so too.

But as other topics discussed before show, many people with AD/HD have had issues in thinking that "everything is about them".  Just scroll through the "Too Sensitive" thread.

I think that the psychologists (or at least the ones that I went to) don't know how to distinguish between real paranoia <thinking some one is out to get you, etc> and the natural "mild paranoia" (or self conciousness, or anxiety, whatever you would like to call it) that comes as somewhat of a coping mechanism along with ADD.

Is the paranoia a person is going through actually a SYMPTOM or just a learned habit?

The testing that I went through does not allow for the distinctions between the two.

I checked "yes" to the question, "Does it feel like people are looking at you when you go out in public?" and BOOM......They slap "paranoia" on me and label me as schizoaffective.

sonya_h38790.5980439815.IMac38943.835625Hmmm...

Well, I talk to myself all the time, and it seems like you do the same thing...you just have internal dialogue outloud, LoL.  Everyone thinks thoughts, what's wrong with verbalizing them at times?

I also get "self conscious" in public/social settings.  I never thought of it as paranoia, just that I don't like feeling that people are paying attentions to me.  That in itself makes me uncomfortable and causes anxiety...which also tends to cause me to make mistakes and my mind to go blank, LoL.

ADD has similarities to other mental illnesses.  Maybe you could get a second opinion?

Either way, good luck with the Dr!

(Sorry if I have missed some other relative posts, I have been MIA for a while!)

I once had a scizophrenic lady stay with me. She had been living in rather squalid conditions in the woods nearby and it was totally unsafe during the winter, so I took her in.

Frankly, she scared me. She was positive that certain well behaved teens whom I knew well (one was my baby sitter) were actually major drug kingpins out to get the entire county addicted. The gas company was actually distributing some type of hallucinogen so they could take over the world. She knew this because there was a blue haze where ever there were gas lines. The fact that the gas lines didn't actually go where she saw the haze didn't matter. The gas company was lying about where the lines are. I could go on and on. I must say that I agreee the gas company is out to get us but in this area, its our money they are grasping at, not our minds! (This woman refused to take her meds so was untreated)

Unless you indulge in beliefs and behaviors as whacky as this, I would strongly suggest that you find another psych and request another diagnosis.

 

However, I did work with someone once who was a very excellent secretary who said she had scizophrenia.  I liked her as a person also.  It's a little off topic - but the thought came to mind. I guess there must be varying degrees of it.

The prescribed Risperdal for me, for crying out loud..IMac38943.8361226852.IMac38943.8358333333Yes, supposedly.  I don't take the Risperdal, though.  Prozac is safe because my baby is past 6 months.

Thanks Dee.

You know, it feels like since I am not bouncing off the wall (I know I am not hyperactive) they decide that there is no way I could have ADD, and attribute all my issues to any other disease they can possibly come up with.

Wow,

I never really knew I was the in-attentive variety of ADD but now I know for sure from my research and from following some really informative posts.  I have dealt with what seemed like paranoia, but really for me all it was, was an inferiority complex that I have really worked hard on overcoming.  Having low self-esteem "is" part of having ADD and that was what caused me to hate having people stare at me when I was younger.  I have trouble with keeping my house neat too.  I seem to do well keeping organized with my jobs but a hard time keeping up with the housework.  It is harder to keep up when you have a real young child to care for and I hope it will get a little better as the baby gets older.  And about carrying your baby.  You have every right to carry your baby any way you want.  The heck with what people think.  Your child will be bonded closer to you and just love ya more.   A new psychiatrist may be an idea to think of too.  Just because they have the title doesn't mean they are good.  The best of luck to you.  Dee

Perhaps I have asked this before.   I can't remember.

But paranoia CAN be an ADD behavoir, right?  I mean, I was diagnosed with having "schizoaffective disorder" simply because my alleged paranoia issues. 

(Schizoaffective disorder, for those who don't know, is basically a combination of Schizophrenia behavior, and Bipolar or Severe depression.  You could have bipoloar symptoms combined with depression symptoms, or, simply the depressive symptoms, but you also have to have the schizo symptoms too, for it to be schizoaffective disorder.)

They said I was paranoid because I feel uncomfortable in public because sometimes it feels like the customers are watching me.

Often they are, because I have an adorable 8 month old.  I also practice "attachment parenting", so when I am in the store, I am usually wearing him in one of my self-sewed baby carrying devices.  This is not done around here much, so people see me with my baby tied to me and thing I'm weird, or from another country.  Cashiers have often asked me what country I am from, thinking that I am foreign because I am "wearing" my baby.

But I was also diagnosed with Social Anxiety disorder, so all this extra attention makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Also, the other "schizo" characteristic I supposedly have is talking to myself.  I do do this, but I feel it's mainly out of impulsiveness than out of "schizo" dellusional behavior.  I should also mention I miserably failed the impulsive diagnostic test.  My pshrynque diagnosed me as being very impulsive.  Naturally, some things that hit my brain will come spewing out of my mouth.  I talk to myself (and now my baby, I can legitimately say, "NO I wasn't talking to myself, I was talking to my baby!" should some one suspiciously ask who I was talking to ) all the time.

I'm rambling.

Does mild paranoia + impulsive self conversation = schizo?

I think the need to drop the whole "schizo" part of this diagnosis. I think I just have ADD and depression issues.  And social anxiety disorder.

Are other ADDers as "paranoid" as I am?  Is this "severe paranoia"?

 

what you are describing sonya sounds more like self-consciousness than paranoia.

paranoia is an unfounded and pervasive feeling that people are 'out to get you', planning to harm you.

like you, i'm impulsive, talk out loud to myself, and suffer social anxieties and depression. i frequently think and feel people think i'm wierd. but i don't imagine they wish me harm.

severe paranoia is: looking out the window every 30 seconds to see if "they" are there, watching you, or getting ready to make their move.

do you think professor moriarty is in that black, windowless, van parked across the street, monitoring your every move?

if you do, then you just might be paranoid. or abusing laudanum.(a victorian speedball.)

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Well then, it's just as i suspected.  I got tested by a clueless about ADD psychologist.

You know, I really aspire to Dr. Amen's research on ADd.  This is one thing that I found right after I wrote my above post, on one of Dr. Amen's websites:

[quote]Temporal lobe ADD has symptoms of inattention and /or hyperactivity-impulsivity and mood instability, aggression, mild paranoia, anxiety with little provocation, atypical headaches or abdominal pain, visual or auditory illusions, and learning problems ( especially reading and auditory processing). [/quote]

You know, I thought that perhaps they would have known at least a tad bit about this since the DID give me one of Dr. Amen's Clinic's Cognitive test to take.  I tested as positive for ADD.

Yet they still keep saying that I have mild paranoia, and attribute it to schizo behavior.

 

I don't even think I really have schizo behavior. 

I am really more teed off about the whole "you need help for your schizo issues" than anything because THAT'S NOT WHAT I NEED HELP WITH!

Let's step out of reality for a moment and pretent like I WAS mildly to moderately paranoid.  If i was, I'M DEALING WITH IT. 

I originally sought help NOT because I thought the Devil was lurking around the corner in my house waiting for me, but because I DESPERATELY NEEEEEEEED HELP organizing myself.  I can barely keep my house straight enough for my baby.  He gets into everything now.  I desperately need help with this.  Also I need help getting organized financially, too keep a roof over our heads, and keep bills paid on time.

THESE are things that I feel my psychologist should have put FIRST.  Who cares if I feel that the world is waiting for me, in a black, tinted windowed van, if I can't keep the bills paid to keep a roof over our heads to protect ourselves, KWIM???

UGH!

I'm going in there tomorrow and giving my therapist a piece of my mind.

Thank you for dealing with my venting.

sonya_h38789.9787037037

 

I once worked with some people who had Schizophrenia.  The main difference I noticed with their talking to themselves is that they actually believed at the time that they were talking to themselves - that they were literally talking to someone else, sometimes in a setting different from the one that they were in.