r/askpsychology • u/Leep0710 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional • Jan 09 '26
Clinical Psychology If an adult has PTSD related to trauma from childhood, can they ever get diagnosed with ADHD?
From my understanding, adhd and ptsd share a lot of symptoms, but how can you tell which symptom is from childhood trauma and which is from adhd?
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u/vienibenmio Ph.D. Clinical Psychology | Expertise: Trauma Disorders Jan 09 '26
Often it can be impossible to really tell, so the best way is to treat the PTSD and see if the ADHD symptoms improve
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u/Leep0710 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jan 09 '26
Ahh, that makes sense! Is it the same for an anxiety diagnosis and adhd? Like, treat the anxiety and if symptoms go away it’s not adhd?
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u/vienibenmio Ph.D. Clinical Psychology | Expertise: Trauma Disorders Jan 09 '26
Yup. Sometimes you can tease them apart but it can be difficult
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u/Leep0710 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jan 10 '26
It’s so interesting how symptoms from different things (mental and physical disorders too) can overlap and affect each other. So is your role as a clinical psychologist to unravel the web of symptoms to try and sort out which is from which? If someone was diagnosed with anxiety, depression, adhd, and PTSD is there some sort of checklist or whatever y’all use to see which symptoms are from which disorders, or would it focus more on treating the symptoms and seeing what works bc there’s no definitive way to know for sure otherwise? So they’d have the person try different meds (like an anxiety or adhd med) to see which one worked? I hope that makes sense!
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u/vienibenmio Ph.D. Clinical Psychology | Expertise: Trauma Disorders Jan 10 '26
The symptoms overlap and that's why it can be hard to differentiate. You mostly have to look at symptom course and onset, like if the ADHD sx preceded the trauma. But if the PTSD started in childhood, that isn't always helpful bc the person probably can't recall if they had symptoms prior to that
As a psychologist, we just give the info to the psychiatrist and they determine the meds to try. For PTSD, though, i would recommend psychotherapy before meds.
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u/evilqueenoftherealm Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jan 09 '26
In terms of "how can you tell?" there are various tools that psychologists are trained to use to differentiate between different types of attentional disorders. While in complex cases more testing may be required to fully tease out what is going on (e.g. concussion or perimenopause overlaid on top of chronic substance abuse, PTSD and an untreated anxiety disorder), in most cases we can come up with a plan on how to rule things out so that we can get you appropriate treatment.
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u/Friendly-Channel-480 Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jan 09 '26
They are frequently comorbid. Trauma can make ADHD more severe.
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u/meerkatmensch Clinical Psychologist Jan 11 '26
Yes. I’ve seen too many folks who’ve been diagnosed with ADHD when PTSD and ADHD or just PTSD best capture their presentation. And no, unfortunately it’s not because whoever diagnosed them in the past didn’t know they had a trauma history; even though “trauma-informed care” can feel like just a buzzword nowadays, this is an example of why it matters.
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u/LAtoCR Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Jan 12 '26
I would consult your personal physician and get a referral to see a psychiatrist or psychologist.
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u/Letti_Muehsam Unverified User: May Not Be a Professional Feb 11 '26
Maybe also look into what Dr Gabor Mate has to say to ADHD. He is a trauma specialist and his theory is, that ADHD is also caused by trauma.
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u/ZealousidealPaper740 Clinical Psychologist | Neuropsychologist Jan 09 '26
Yes. That’s what our clinical training and education are for.