sallyf - I have a daughter that is suffering with PTSD - due to a severe car accident!
Changes to her handwriting were pronouced. Anxiety levels went through the roof, she became paranoid that she would be kidnapped or the car would crash again. She became extremely nasty!!! to her sibs. She lashes out very easily.
She withdraws and her eyes look vacant.
If she is out of her environment (home) for any extended period, she becomes worse.
But prior to this accident she also had symptoms of ADHD, she forgets things, disorganised, messy, anxious (less tho), her handwriting tho was extremely neat.
But since PTSD - these have all gotten worse.
My theory is PTSD does not affect everyone as badly as others. Others predisposed to anxiety etc. Will be affected worse.
And ADHD and PTSD can co-exist, it is just hard to diagnose them as separte things without doing Neuropsyche evaluations etc...
I would suggest your husband go on an antidepressant - if that gives no joy - then follow the road with the ADD meds.
Rae7038334.342974537 DH does not want to be tested because he says our insurance rate will go up when we switch to a new company sometime next year. The thing is that we don't know what he was like before the age of 7. His dad was an alcoholic and something is wrong with his mother and she doesn't remember raising her children. Whatever it is that she has, dh is similar but not as bad. He has been able to hide it pretty well up until now, but little things started going wrong in our marriage and with our baby, and the counselor is starting to piece things together for us. Now I'm starting to worry about our son because from the time he was only a few months old, I noticed that he is not the same as the other kids. He is super sensitive and I thought he had some sensory intergration problems or something but the doctor said he would outgrow it. Now I'm not so sure. But I just wanted to add this, that when he is stressed out he will totally shut down and often go to sleep. I guess that is not typical of ADD?People who are experiencing Post Traumatic Stress, can indeed appear to be AD/HD. They often have difficulties concentrating, sometimes fidgit, and just don't seem "completely there." This is why it is very important to go to a knowledgable physician when getting diagnosed. Doctors should know to question about various aspects of a person's life and they should be able to pick out key factors that may be triggering a person's behaviors.
Any particular reason a person can not be suffering from both? Don't think I've got a liceance to practice phsycology heck I don't think I even spelled it correctly but I think Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome is the opposite of ADHD. ADHD people often get hyper and more fidgety and easily distracted when faced with stressfull situations where as a PTSS patient tends to shut down and clam up in a stressful situation and even lose all capability to speak and walk ( a coma in which they appear awake) Did your husband have ADD symptoms before before age 7? If he did, then its ADD, if not then it's probably something else. This is the key criterion for diagnosing ADD. Hi I'm new to this board. My dh and I have been in marital counseling and our counselor suspects dh is add. I heard that people suffering from post traumatic stress disorder can have behaviors that mimic add but haven't been able to find any info on it. Does anyone know about this or have any experience with it? TIA, Sally