ADHD or Anxiety?

According to dual board-certified psychiatrist Dr. Kristy Lamb, "when we are anxious, ADHD symptoms can be worse." In this enlightening interview video, MedCircle host, Kyle Kittleson, and Dr. Kristy Lamb break down the differences between ADHD and anxiety.

00:00 Intro
01:32 ADHD vs anxiety first steps
02:25 Physiological signs of each
03:16 When it's anxiety, not ADHD
04:20 How to turn nervousness into excitement
06:36 Is an adult more likely to have ADHD or anxiety?
08:06 Does ADHD or anxiety cause lack of concentration?
10:30 The most common difference between ADHD and anxiety
11:17 Immediate strategies for ADHD and/or anxiety

#adhd #anxiety #psychology #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthmatters

[jennifermcknight]

But what's not being taken into account is that the 30% of adults diagnosed with anxiety might actually have ADHD as their primary and anxiety as a symptom of it but are bing misdiagnosed.

[taramarielmt]

When I was originally diagnosed with anxiety, nothing worked. And when I was finally diagnosed with ADHD, after treatment my anxiety all but disappeared! For me, ADHD was the root and exacerbated everything else.

[BC-xuyq]

I'd be very annoyed if I was diagnosed with anxiety and the possibility of ADHD was discarded straight away.

[peaches]

When your anxiety is caused by the constant struggle of living with untreated adhd, then only treating the anxiety symptoms is like just putting a bandaid on the problem instead of actually fixing it. It treats the surface symptoms, but doesn’t treat the root of the problem. I have struggled with anxiety and depression my whole life, been on meds for it most of that time, and it wasn’t until college that I finally got an adhd diagnosis. And guess what, when the adhd was treated, the other issues went away because I was actually able to do things that needed to be done without having to fight with myself. Everyday tasks were no longer impossible. I could do my homework without waiting until the last minute, and I understood things like I never have before. Everything suddenly became clear, like the fog had lifted. Now 10 years later I’m back in school without adhd meds because I don’t have health insurance anymore. I’m only able to get anxiety and depression meds from one of those online services, so I’m back to just treating the surface issues. I’m not anxious, I’m not depressed, and yet I still can’t get my work done. My head is foggy, my thoughts are jumbled, and I can’t focus. Even though the anxiety is being treated. Hmm. Doctors don’t know everything, evidently.

[josephsaxe]

Not a bad video, helpful for anxiety folks. But those with ADHD that are self-aware, know that lots of Anxiety stems from untreated ADHD. The keyword that I didnt hear is Comorbidity of those with both. Heard alot about how anxiety exacerbates ADHD, but not enough about how ADHD exacerbates anxiety from executive dysfunction. Anyway.. thanks for the post!

[kayleighwall]

I got told I had severe anxiety disorder for ten years then I realised I had adhd and got diagnosed and I realised I had been living with adhd my whole life with out knowing and people just blamed my anxiety for all my problems. Videos like this frustrate me

[NekonataVirino]

Life with ADHD can be very anxiety provoking.

[montegyro]

It's wild how in 2 decades my diagnosis went from depression, to anxiety and panic attacks, to finally ADHD with anxiety. Once i got to ADHD, it made a lot more sense looking back.

[dougclendening]

"Both". And one leads to the other.

But don't forget about the depression silently building up due to permanent anxiety, due to permanently feeling behind.

[brownshit]

Yeah, I'm with the comments section here. I experience high levels of anxiety on a day-to-day basis, and I've been treated for anxiety through pharmocoloigical and behavioural interventions for over 15 years. It wasn't until recently that my new doctor ordered proper physciatric evaluation that it was ever considered ADHD, to which I have since been diagnosed.

[DaniGirl]

Once she said ADHD is a concentrational issue, I'm thinking she is not current on what ADHD is. That is not correct and is a mainstream impression that people have. While that is a symptom, that is not what it is and doesn't explain the fact that people who have ADHD also can hyper focus. (ADHD is more of an executive function issue and dopamine issue that can result in some tasks being difficult to do that can appear to people who only see a small time frame or focusing on the negative symptoms to think concentration issue. But when a person also acknowledges the positive symptoms of ADHD, it's painfully clear to not be a concentration issue despite the very misleading name.) Second thing she said that tells me she doesn't understand ADHD is that she tries to rule out anxiety first. Doing that doesn't take account for the human aspect and to me feels like a walking DSM which is not good at all. People like that in the medical field are detrimental and cause devastating harm. ADHD results in a childhood of constantly having people put downs like "what's wrong with you", "try harder", "you're just lazy" and worse things. Not just from peers but those closest and supposed to be supportive like parents. Growing up with that constant message frequently leads to anxiety of getting put down again for yet another failure because the way things are taught do not work for ADHD people, they require a different approach or even medication. Anxiety causing ADHD symptoms, maybe, there is a lot of overlap with all sorts of disorders so nit surprised. However, it is not so difficult to get enough to suspect ADHD and try treatment and skills that work for ADHD. It is also easy to understand people growing up with ADHD frequently develop anxiety because the majority of they world puts them down. Once they start succeeding, wow the anxiety reduces, after years it may go away. But I am sorry, years of growing up getting put down when you know you're intellgent doesn't get erased in weeks or months. Treatment for anxity for ADHD is treatment of symptoms and not the cause. Sure you can teach calming blah blah, but it doesn't work as well and due to that it just gets worse and feels like yet another failure on top of all the failures. She sounds like someone who would delay someone with ADHD from getting the help they need for another span of years in the approach I've heard. People are not machines, you have to consider their history and emotions too.

[shawnana]

Ok, this is information about anxiety. This is not a comparative of anxiety vs adhd. You didn’t even discuss how people have both and that adhd is drastically under diagnosed because drs blame everything on anxiety. You didn’t talk about how those with undiagnosed adhd often struggle with anxiety or depression because the underlying adhd is not being treated nor acknowledged.

[SarahLongfield]

One minute into this video and they’re talking about how anxiety can cause ADHD… in my case, my 2nd psych started to question the cause of my anxiety/panic attacks (because no therapist could find a root) and said he thought my adhd might be the cause. I was scared to take stimulants for fear my anxiety would worsen, but considering my paradoxical reactions to most meds and said ADHD meds should actually calm me- AND HE WAS RIGHT all these years I was on loads of different anxiolytics and benzos which barely did anything, then after starting stimulant adhd meds my panic attacks went from 2-5x daily (no meds), to 2-4 attacks a week but constant low level anxiety (on daily anxiety meds) to only 1-2 panic attacks every 3-4 months on stimulant meds.

I feel calm, relaxed, more clear headed, and no longer suffer from anxiety spirals, intrusive thoughts, constant worry, or the constant low level dread. It’s even helped my digestive system! I used to have IBS triggered by anxiety, as soon as I started meds I could eat and poop normally again. So please consider that while anxiety might mask as some adhd symptoms, it can also BE one of the most debilitating symptoms of ADHD.

[CitAllHearItAll]

Pardon me, but it seems like you missed a common situation, people with anxiety that's caused by their ADHD. As in the symptoms of ADHD help put adults especially into situations that anyone would be anxious about. Same with depression.

[bubblessudss]

Anxiety and ADHD here. Medication changed my life.

[solitairerivera]

First comment! I have diagnosis for both, so it is hard for me to distinguish what symptoms go with what pathology. Thanks for the video. I don't care which symptom goes to which pathology- I just want to be able to work functionally. I struggle every day.

[jodimarie]

I have a brain that never shuts up. I just can't stop my thoughts. BUT for me, it isn't necessarily troubling or worrying thoughts. It just doesn't ever shut up. It is exhausting

[johnmoore]

I feel bad for her patients, seems like anyone who mentions anxiety but who has ADHD is going to get slapped with an anxiety label instead.

I got slapped with anxiety and depression because I was a good student but once I got in high school I couldn’t keep up and got burnt out and skipped for a month. I didn’t know what was wrong so once I finally saw the psychiatrist I was frustrated and cried etc. So ADHD wasn’t even considered.

Fast forward 10 years and I was talking to my older cousin who was diagnosed with ADHD recently and her story was very similar just less severe, everything just clicked as she was talking.

[jcatlin]

I have to disagree with this video. As a therapist and someone with life long anxiety and recent ADHD diagnosis, she is off base on even the symptoms differences and she minimized ADHD. Knee bouncing and time blindness are also ADHD signs, although not listed in the DSM. She talks about a brain offline or shut down as anxiety, however it can also be a sign of sensory overload and overstimulation with someone with autism, sensory processing disorder or ADHD! Distractibility/avoidance is not only anxiety, but again can be a symptom of ADHD as it is an issue with motivation and if a task is boring, someone with ADHD will seek out stimulating and distraction from the boring task.

[thefc]

Yeah I have to agree about anxiety. If you grew up with malignant parent who used and abused, you'd be anxious. Every moment you were to be in their company, which was potentially alway, you'd be anxious, worried when they would strike, gaslight, rage, collude, etc.