ADD or something else
 

I just read an article on webmd that says in order to be diagnoses with ADD as an adult, the syptoms must have had childhood onset.

I've also read articles elsewhere which say that there are events or conditions, such as a head injury, that can bring on adult ADD.

Which is true? Is there such a thing as adult onset ADD, or is it without a doubt not ADD, if there were no symptoms in childhood?

Re: ADD or something else
 

ADHD can be caused by someone who "suffered traumatic brain injuries and the relationship these injuries may have with ADHD...the majority claims that a head injury was suffered before the age of two." (link to article here) However, I haven't ever met someone who had ADHD because of trauma.

For ADHD to be diagnosed in a person without brain trauma, the symptoms must have been present in childhood.

Re: ADD or something else
 

My therapist diagnosed me recently with ADD-PI. I am 41 and this is my first diagnosis of ADD. My primary care doctor disagrees with the diagnosis, because Ritalin didn't help much.

I believe my symptoms developed sometime in the last few years, probably in my 30s. I suffered a traumatic brain injury when I was 23.

Re: ADD or something else
 

Ritalin (a methylphenidate) isn't the only stimulant to help with ADHD, so just because that doesn't work, doesn't mean you *don't* have ADHD. Who prescribed the meds? Your primary doctor? Ask to try something else...

It is possible that with a traumatic brain injury you could have developed it in your 20's after your injury, but I want to say a neurologist or something would need to corroborate on that?

Don't quote me on that last part... I could be wrong.

Re: ADD or something else
 

It really doesn't matter what you call it, if the treatment is the same.

ADHD is something that begins in childhood, recognized or not.
When a brain injury causes ADHD symptoms, it isn't ADHD... it's a brain injury causing ADHD symptoms. That's my understanding of it at least.

When you look at the diagnostic requirements, it frequently says something along the lines of: the symptoms are not better accounted for by another mental disorder. I believe that this is the only reason for a distinction, as we can't say with certainty that both conditions share the same biological mechanisms... so they are considered medically different.

Re: ADD or something else
 

Accordin got the DSM, ADHD has to start before the age of seven. This doesn't mean all symptoms have to be present, but some must. A brain injury can occur before the age of seven, but in most cases then it's not called ADHD either (unless we're talking about brain bleeds caused by premature birth and such, which makes it complicated). I howevrer agree that the diangosis isn't relevan tif hte treatment is the same, and if one treatment doesn't work, that doesn't mean you were misdiagnosed.

Re: ADD or something else
 

I'm pretty sure that there's little in the way of evidence to support the age-7 clause in the DSM-IV. It's been argued that this should be changed to "some time in childhood or adolescence", but it looks like it'll be changed to 12 in the DSM-5.

Also, I have heard that while people whose ADHD has a developmental etiology, medication works well, but there's reason to think that rehabilitation may be the best course of treatment for those who developed ADHD as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

Pretty much all of this came from Barkley videos on youtube.

Re: ADD or something else
 

as I understand it, whether recognized or not, adhd symptoms must have been present in childhood. and the brain injury thing seems to have its own set of diagnosis tools.

Re: ADD or something else
 

Would the doctor still give stimulants to someone with a brain injury? Or is the treatment different?

Re: ADD or something else
 

I'd imagine it would depend upon the injury and what is causing the symptoms.

Re: ADD or something else
 

I will also add that due to some extenuating circumstances a lot of people may have suppressed a few of their ADHD traits. From personal experience, I have, but it also morphed into something else. That may be some of what you're talking about, perhaps?
I definitely do not have medical experience or anything of the sort, but I could imagine if there is enough pressure, for long enough, from a contusion or a burst blood vessel in the brain to impede certain processes, that it *could* change some aspects of how someone functions. However, that's far outside of my paygrade so don't take my word for it.