Bob Bray

PTSD AND ADHD IN CHILDREN

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD and ADHD Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder are diagnoses that mental health professionals come into contact with regularly. The causes of PTSD are well known, while causes of ADHD are unclear. Both disorders are complex and present diagnostic challenges to clinicians, and both have significant comorbidity with other disorders.

What events cause PTSD in children?

Children and teens could have PTSD if they have lived through an event that could have caused them or someone else to be killed or badly hurt. Such events include sexual or physical abuse or other violent crimes. Disasters such as floods, school shootings, car crashes, or fires might also cause PTSD. Other events that can cause PTSD are war, a friend's suicide, or seeing violence in the area they live.

What are the risk factors for PTSD?

Three factors have been shown to raise the chances that children will get PTSD. These factors are:

How severe the trauma is

How the parents react to the trauma

How close or far away the child is from the trauma

Children and teens that go through the most severe traumas tend to have the highest levels of PTSD symptoms. The PTSD symptoms may be less severe if the child has more family support and if the parents are less upset by the trauma. Lastly, children and teens who are farther away from the event report less distress.

Other factors can also affect PTSD. Events that involve people hurting other people, such as rape and assault, are more likely to result in PTSD than other types of traumas. Also, the more traumas a child goes through, the higher the risk of getting PTSD. Girls are more likely than boys to get PTSD.

It is not clear whether a child's ethnic group may affect PTSD. Some research shows that minorities have higher levels of PTSD symptoms.

ADHD in Children

Children with ADHD show signs of inattention, hyperactivity, and/or impulsivity in specific ways. These children:

Are in constant motion

Squirm and fidget

Do not seem to listen

Have trouble playing quietly

Often talk excessively

Interrupt or intrude on others

Are easily distracted

Do not finish tasks

How Is ADHD Diagnosed?

Though your child may have some symptoms that seem like ADHD, it might be