So I have been reading up on ADHD/ADD and I am keeping an open mind about it.

I am being a skeptic about my diagnosis and I have not accepted it. I am skeptical because I have worn so many labels and have seen some bad practice in terms of diagnosis.

All my labels are starting in order from the first one:

Bipolar 2
Dysthymia, PTSD, GAD, dissociation
Bipolar 2 and ADHD

Pretty confusing eh?

Out of all my diagnosis the one that makes sense is the PTSD. The mood disorder stuff doesn't make sense because there is no clear cycling of mood. I often don't display a manic side, but a more depressed side.

Inattention from anxiety is often huge, and Self esteem issues etc etc.

My big thing is- I have displayed some degree of some of these disorders but not quite enough for me to be truly bipolar, and not enough for me to be truly ADHD. The only thing does fit is PTSD.

Is ADHD/ADD perhaps being diagnosed when PTSD should be considered?

Well, PTSD is an anxiety disorder. While many ADHD individuals have anxiety, anxiety itself is not a characteristic of ADHD. In fact, inattention in ADHD (mostly inattentive and combined-type issues) is similar to one's brain falling asleep at the wheel. Anxiety is qualitatively different, in that the brain is in a state of over-arousal. I suppose that anxiety disorders and ADHD can be mixed up, but that would mostly happen if one does not understand the underlying mechanisms and reasons for inattention -- not exploring any deeper than the definition of the word itself.

If anything, the overstimulated mind might be confused with "mental hyperactivity", though the over-alertness factor isn't necessarily present in that case. Also, in anxiety, the thoughts tend to converge to one thing, where in ADHD, the tendency is to diverge.

I have ADHD and PTSD.

ADHD is part of my crazy silly mind that is uncensored, impulsive, and messy.

PTSD is my mind that remembers each insult and injury that has been meted out to me over the years, and causes me to want to get those individuals back.

Do I need to say anymore. That's about as simple as I can explain PTSD and ADHD

I have ADHD and PTSD.

ADHD is part of my crazy silly mind that is uncensored, impulsive, and messy.

PTSD is my mind that remembers each insult and injury that has been meted out to me over the years, and causes me to want to get those individuals back.

Do I need to say anymore. That's about as simple as I can explain PTSD and ADHD

Thats interesting to me because I've been thinking the same thing about myself recently and that I might have PTSD which made my ADD that i've had as a child so much worse, as opposed to doctors thinking my medication lost effectiveness due to a tolerance my body built up.

I've experienced several injuries and harmful serious things right before my symptoms got worse. That would explain things a bit. However, my question is; isn't PTSD a temporary disorder? Correct me if I'm wrong, but in my psych class we were told that it can occur from 4 months up to like 2 years.

If that is correct then I'm assuming that PTSD isn't really long-term disorder and if I do indeed have it, then it will wear off in months or even a year or two, and with it my add symptoms will return to normal as opposed to the insanity it is now.

What you think? :)

I can have a crazy silly mind. I sometimes feel very scattered in thought, and sometimes just numb. I have had bad stuff happen in my teens to me that left me with PTSD. I had major major depression. A poorly formed sense of self. I acted impulsive, hyper and crazy.

Then I was messed up again in my 20's. then I was fine. Then I went to school, did extremely well, and again you would swear nothing was wrong. Then I went through therapy in my 30's and my anxiety and energy seemed to shift. I had severe anxiety attacks. The anti-depressants didn't do so much, and I was socially phobic, and had difficulty functioning.

I have trouble with focus, with sitting still at times. Sometimes I feel like I can't follow conversations or listen very well. I am often semi depressed. Yet I don't have classic bipolar with huge swings in energy.

So go figure. The more I stay with doctors the more confused I get.

Not all with bi-polar cycle have distinctive cycles, some cycle very rapidly, some are mostly depressed. Wish I could give you some help in figuring out whether that's really an issue for you.

As far as the ADHD, have you read "Driven to Distraction" by Ratey and Holloway? That was a defining moment for me. I could relate to nearly everything I read in that book.

I also have some PTSD and I think we may seem to recover after a few months or even a few years, but undergoing stress can often trigger the symptoms all over again.

And of course, most of us have some overlap between issues and may have more than one thing making our lives somewhat difficult.