Anxiety issues as well as depression and learning problems tend to coexist with ADHD. Some children, however, are incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD when in fact they have an anxiety disorder. Other children have both symptoms of anxiety disorder and ADHD but the medications for one can actually cause more harm than good.

Any treatment option for a child with ADHD needs to look at the child holistically and make sure that all factors are taken into account and monitored.

 
Anxiety issues as well as depression and learning problems tend to coexist with ADHD. Recent studies have shown that one-fourth of children with ADHD exhibit some symptoms of an anxiety disorder whereas between 5 and 15% of children in the general population are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder.

Symptoms of anxiety include:
1. Anxious or fearful feelings without an apparent cause
2. Chronic exaggerated worry
3. Problems with concentration or distractibility
4. Insomnia

And there are physical symptoms as well such as headaches and stomach aches.

The challenge with all of this is that some children have an anxiety disorder and it mimics the signs of ADHD but they only have the anxiety disorder. Other children have anxiety issues and ADHD but the medication prescribed for ADHD can exacerbate the anxiety issues. In this case, the anxiety must somehow be treated before the ADHD.

I fully believe that there is a biological link to many of the disorders among the spectrum of ADHD, anxiety, depression, Asperger’s, etc. but the diagnosis and treatment is COMPLICATED.

I do believe our son has some anxiety issues. He is afraid of the dark and he is afraid to sleep alone. In addition, any time we are changing the routine by either taking a weekend trip or starting a new sports season or trying out a new activity, he gets highly highly anxious about it.

However, he does not exhibit the symptoms of an anxiety disorder that I just talked about. He is not anxious or fearful without an apparent cause; he does not exhibit chronic exaggerated worry; he does not have insomnia and he does not show the physical symptoms of anxiety. He does have problems with concentration and distractibility

Let me share some examples. We were planning for our annual vacation. We had been talking about it for a while. Our son had been expressing that he was going to miss home, that he was going to miss the dog and constantly asking questions about where we were going, how long we were going to be gone for, what we were going to do, where we were going to sleep, where and what we were going to eat and so forth. We realize that changes and transitions are difficult for him so we do discuss these questions and many more pretty intensely for about a week before heading off. Well the night before leaving .. late in the night because we were still packing, he got hysterical about going away. Big tears and sobs and crying that he did not want to go – he was absolutely hysterical.

This happens too with a new activity. For instance, he played basketball for the first time with a township team this winter. For the first several weeks, we could not get him out on the basketball floor to play and learn. So we kept going week after week, hanging out with him on the sidelines, hoping that over time he would be ready to jump in. This did not happen. So we ended up inviting his best friend to come along so that they could do it together. Problem solved. They jumped in together and had a ball.

So why am I rambling about his anxieties? He definitely exhibits many more anxieties than a typical child his age. However, when I look at the “checklist” for anxiety disorders, he does not seem to fit there well either.

As you know, we have received a recent diagnosis of ADHD inattentive for our son but as advocates we need to make sure that the doctors and therapists that we work with are fully aware of his anxiety issues and are addressing the child holistically. In addition, should we go down the path of medication, we need to be especially vigilant about observing the effect of the medication on not only the ADHD but also his anxieties. There is no definitive tests for either ADHD or anxiety so the analysis and treatment moving forward for our son will continue to be a case of observation, experimentation and advocating.

Join me next time when I share with you some of my strategies for addressing his anxiety issues. As always, thank you for watching and until next time.

Karen