Okay...where else better than here to talk about this....? Is this related to my ADD?? Okay I do have PTSD...given my history...I know that...I have trouble when people come up to me from behind and tap me on the shoulder (meaning no harm of course), or even just start talking to me when I'm not aware that they are there. Sometimes this type of stuff SCARES me and I will react with such panic....and they don't understand...sometimes when I'm in hyperfocus mode and it's quiet and someone starts talking to me -- I'll JUMP -- as they have scared the daylights out of me...! I get really embarrassed sometimes because of this as people don't understand why I react so strongly...I just hate SUDDEN interruptions..unexpected ones...without my awareness...anyone relate???? A person reaches in front of me and it makes me nuts...please inform me that you're coming first and do it quietly...your NOT invited into my space unexpectedly because it scares me out of my wits.....Loud knocks on my door? Scare me...Um..phone all of a sudden ringing...scares me...Silence followed by any loud noise...scares me....anyone relate? thanks.

Joan

Well, yea, i sure do. I actually get a physical reaction to being startled, my skin gets motled, my chest feels pins and needles across it, my heart almost "hurts".As a kid my rough and tumble sisters (who didnt realize they were hurting me, they are my best friends today), knew the one way to get tough hard Crissy was to either lock her in a tight or isolated space, or scare her.If you scared me while I was standing I would literally fall to the ground.I can't explain the tingling, almost stinging sensation I feel afterwards. When woken or touched suddenly in my sleep I have punch, tried to crawl up a wall, screamed, fallen out of bed, started running etc.

This all leads me to my one burning question that I always have in the back of my head. Because adhd, ocd, bp and all these other disorders are both familial (which would mean a really unstable home for some)and difficult to deal with in children when uneducated about the disorders, are our rates of abuse higher? Physical, emotional, sexual etc.It has always haunted me this question.

Crissy: Good question...ARE our rates of abuse higher? Physical, sexual and emotional? And I don't know....never seen any studies or statistical reports made between ADD and history of abuse....and which came first the ADD or the history of abuse? Was the abuse there first and THEN the ADD? In my case I knew about my history of abuse LONG before I knew about my history of ADD...but that's only knowledge of it....Abuse started at 6 and I know ADD started at childhood but not sure at just what age....possibly at around age 6 as well! No, actually I think it was earlier...Anyway, I relate to your physical symptoms Crissy.

Joan

I have a theory on this... I believe that people are predisposed to certain disorders by genetics, and that given a certain set of circumstances those disorders will appear when perhaps otherwise they would not have formed into a full-fledged disorder (such as meeting some but not all criteria) or the circumstances will effect the severity of the symptoms of the disorder.

I did read that ADHD children are more likely to be abused, by being manipulated or because of their caregiver's inabilities to deal with their ADHD symptoms. There are studies somewhere online but I'm not in the searching mood right now.

Sometimes it seems like a chicken/egg situation. Abuse-->disorder-->more abuse-->more severe disorder or... disorder-->abuse-->more severe disorder-->more abuse. Whatever came first I have no doubt abuse has a profound impact on anyone with a mental disorder. Is ADD considered a mental illness?

Edited to Add: Sorry didn't realize this was such an old thread.

I have a similar issue... when someone gets into my body space by surprise, or tickles me, or hugs me and won't let go when I try to get them to, I have an instinctive reaction to lash out and hit them, HARD. I have had to work hard at suppressing this with Mrs. Clam and Clam Jr. as they are both very physically demonstrative... and they come into my body space completely innocently, intending nothing more than affection and love... :(

sounds like hypervigilance or an exaggerated 'startle response'. Pretty normal for PTSD people.