ADHD & PTSD (cPTSD) Comorbidity?

[dollyvee]

Going down a bit of a rabbit hole today and this is an interesting connection:
https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-ptsd-fear-circuit-deficits/

https://www.additudemag.com/trauma-adhd-ptsd-causes-connection/?src=embed_link

https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-and-trauma-may-go-hand-in-hand/?src=embed_link

Posttraumatic stress disorder in adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: clinical features and familial transmission:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23561240/

PTSD and CPTSD could present together because of abnormal fear circuitry. Also, the abnormal fear circuitry gives both conditions similarities.

In some of my IFS journey's I've come across a "fear" state and/or fearful aspects of my m. Also, I feel in a lot of social situations people think I'm a fearful person (and maybe try to intimidate me). I also think I then counter this by saying, I'm not a fearful person while then maybe engaging in some risky behaviour. I always thought there was a certain intimidation/aggressiveness coming from my m which I would then respond to and maybe it is/was but it has disrupted my neural pathways/set something in motion genetically?

This is also interesting: Those with ADHD often disconnect from physical discomforts by numbing themselves with food, drugs, sex, risky behaviors, or by being workaholics. Somatic therapy offers greater physical and emotional control over the body's uncomfortable responses to distress

https://www.additudemag.com/somatic-therapy-adhd/?src=embed_link

Peoples' experiences here are also illuminating as to what is CPTSD and ADHD and how they might differentiate in feeling:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/search/?q=cptsd&restrict_sr=1&sr_nsfw=

[rainydiary]

In the course of my work, I've learned a lot about neurodiversity.  Neurodiverse brains can be genetic and/or acquired.  It has been helpful to consider myself as neurodiverse.  The information on this website has been helpful to me: https://soyoureautistic.com/neuro-diversity-and-neuro-divergence/

Something that troubles me is that I think things like autism, attention differences, trauma (which are all very different things yet indicate that our brains function in a way that isn't honored by mainstream culture) are very common and way more common that society wants to consider.  I often wonder if we have ways of explaining things that are actually something else. 

I don't think we necessarily always have the vocabulary to understand and explain our experiences.  Professionals that are aiming to support us can also limited in their knowledge and awareness of neurodiversity.  I say this as a professional that works with people with disabilities- I was not trained by anyone with a disability and came away from my program thinking my job was to "fix" people.  This is an indication of the medical model of disability versus the social model of disability. 

I now see my job as helping people learn about themselves and honoring their needs and trying to provide information to other adults with the hope of shifting their perspective. 

This may not relate to what you were researching, it's just something I think a lot about.

[dollyvee]

Thanks for the link Rainy. I'm don't feel like I'm coming at it from an aspect of thinking something is wrong which I must fix but rather trying to define what is happening in the first place. I think when we go through trauma at a young age, we've already learned the mode of thinking that it must be me, I did something wrong which society then enforces by saying this is the correct way to be. So, we take all that on. The connection is one that I'd never considered before and just chalked all my moods etc up to the residual emotions of trauma which I had to "correct" but perhaps that's not the case.

I see what you're saying about professionals coming from a certain mindset and had an experience with a T where they wanted to categorize me as "classic DSM" borderline/histrionic etc but I knew that somehow didn't fit. To me, it didn't mean that all t's are that way or that I didn't get support from him and therapy in general wasn't valuable, but it also didn't seem like the answer.  I had to learn what that was on my own until I found out about EMDR and then my current t who practised it.

This is a great article about synesthesia which I love because it's an insight into how different some people's minds do work:
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/07/whats-it-like-to-see-ideas-as-shapes/492032/