An individual I work with stated that people who have been abused as children are more likely to have ADD/ADHD. He's a psychologist, I am not. Just wondering what you guys/gals think of that statement. Any experiences or reports read on subject?

I think that enironment is a factor in how a person expresses adhd. I think it is prettyclose to being a cut-and-dried fact that adhd is biological, so I don't buy in to the idea that environment can cause adhd.

I do think that people who have adhd are more likely to experience some kind of physical or psychological abuse. If that is the case, then it would explain your friend's findings.

Me :D

My personal experience is pretty much in line with what Speedo says. According to my mother I was physically active while still in the womb, this leads to the notion that I was made ADHD by genetics.

I think the fact that I was hyperactive made me at higher risk for abuse. It should be noteworthy that of my siblings two of the three having been clinically diagnosed none of them experienced the same abuse.

Children who are ADD/ADHD have lived an entire life time never having experienced abuse and children can be abused despite the absence of ADD/ADHD

I can imagine there being a correlation, in that parents who are impulsive or easily frustrated or perhaps have problems with addiction (all related to ADD) would be more likely to abuse their children, especially if those children are particularly frustrating to deal with (maybe due to ADD). So I'd expect more violence and chaos in a household where there was ADD in at least one family member. Maybe if someone didn't look close enough they might think the ADD was caused by the abuse instead of the other way around.

And certainly a chaotic childhood would not provide the structure that a child with ADD would need, so maybe it would show up earlier or more strongly in that situation. I've also heard things about head trauma possibly being related to ADD or similar disorders, so that could be a factor as well.

Many things effect attention just as the attention span can have an effects on many things. Not every one who is impulsive are ADD, just as not all ADDers are impulsive. . . .some people with ADD actually have problems being decisive. . . . .

An individual I work with stated that people who have been abused as children are more likely to have ADD/ADHD. He's a psychologist, I am not. Just wondering what you guys/gals think of that statement. Any experiences or reports read on subject?Woah there, abuse? I'm not sure how that would click. I mean, it may distract them or something, but I'm not sure how it would contribute to major ADD factors: hyperactivity, fidgity, procrastination, etc.