Theory? | ADHD Information

Yes! [QUOTE=jerbear]

[QUOTE=jerbear]perhaps!![/QUOTE]

so what does everyone think about my indepth, detailed response?

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*nod*

[QUOTE=jerbear]perhaps!![/QUOTE]

so what does everyone think about my indepth, detailed response?

 

My add doesn't really come and go like I think bipolar does with the cross between highs and lows (maybe I'm wrong about that as I haven't really studied bipolar). 

While I think that in children it is difficult to differentiate between ADHD and Bi-polar, in adults the disorders are more clearly defined. The truth of it is that ADD/HD has so many symptoms that they start diagnosing comorbid disorders associated with it and then the Adder gets mistaken for a thousand other things because it seems to complex  to be JUST ADD! How sad it is that ADD/HD is such a misunderstood disorder. Maybe some day they will ask us what ADD is like!!! Has anyone heard this theory?  Copied this from another forum compairing Bipolar to ADHD.  Can not find anything on the web about it.  My pdoc thinks they are seperate disorders and treats them both.  What think thou?

There's overlap in symptoms and because of that there's a LOT of
debate among  psychiatrists as to whether they're separate disorders
or if perhaps ADD/ADHD is just another part of the bipolar spectrum






perhaps!!I am still unable to find any documentation on this theory.  I agree with your pdoc. 

I think they are very different disorders.  My son, for example, does not rage, at all.  He's lived with us for four years (from eight years old to twelve years old), and he's never thrown a temper tantrum, broken things out of anger, put his fist through a wall, etc.  From what I have heard from parents of bipolar children and read in research on bipolar children, raging is part of the disorder.  

On the other side, I guess people could look at extreme hyperactivity and wonder what the difference is between it and mania, but I think it is very different.  The hyperactive child is still in touch with reality, whereas the manic child loses touch with reality.  KWIM?

IMHO, I think the reason why some people say they may be on the same spectrum is because doctors will give an ADHD dx before a bipolar one, not wanting to give the latter too early because it is seen as being much more serious and life altering, whether it is or not.  So, a child will be dxed with ADHD, then it will "turn into" bipolar, when in fact it was bipolar all along.  

lillian38820.9860416667

That is the first time I have heard that one. I have often read that ADHD may be a milder form of autism, but never bipolar.

Whatever its called, we have to live with it.

[QUOTE=lillian]

I think they are very different disorders.  My son, for example, does not rage, at all.  He's lived with us for four years (from eight years old to twelve years old), and he's never thrown a temper tantrum, broken things out of anger, put his fist through a wall, etc.  From what I have heard from parents of bipolar children and read in research on bipolar children, raging is part of the disorder.  

On the other side, I guess people could look at extreme hyperactivity and wonder what the difference is between it and mania, but I think it is very different.  The hyperactive child is still in touch with reality, whereas the manic child loses touch with reality.  KWIM?

IMHO, I think the reason why some people say they may be on the same spectrum is because doctors will give an ADHD dx before a bipolar one, not wanting to give the latter too early because it is seen as being much more serious and life altering, whether it is or not.  So, a child will be dxed with ADHD, then it will "turn into" bipolar, when in fact it was bipolar all along.  

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Personally I think they are 2 seperate orders too, but I can see the reasoning behind the theory.  The rage thing....Although it is the MOST common sign of mania in children,    all of the symptoms of mania do not have to be present to qualify Bipolar.  Only 3 out of the Long list or 4 if it is irratibilty.   In hypomania you generally do not lose touch with reality either. So it is more complex than that.

The rage part is what gives the sterotype to Bipolar.   We only hear about the worst case scenarios.  The people that make the news or the Dr. Phil show are not the majority.    Many manias are Euphoric moods and hypomania can just be silliness.  The depressions are much more obvious.