ADHD frequently occurs in combination with other mental health disorders.
For example, people with ADHD often also have challenges with depression and/or anxiousness.
And ADHD is commonly misdiagnosed as anxiety, especially in young children.
In fact, symptoms from many different disorders can be similar to ADHD symptoms. Even if this doesn't lead to an incorrect diagnosis, it can lead to one that is incomplete. Therefore, your child might not get all of the help that they need.
If you want to get the right treatment, you need to have the right diagnosis.
Hence, getting a full evaluation is critical.
An ADHD Diagnosis Instead of—or in Addition to—Other Issues
A comprehensive evaluation helps you and your medical professional understand exactly what is going on with your child. It helps you see if they do have ADHD and what the symptoms are that impact their life.
However, you may discover that your child doesn’t have ADHD. In that case, they can get the right diagnosis and the proper treatment for the condition they actually do have. For example, you find out that a child's behavior is due to anxiety, instead of ADHD. Therefore, you can get the right anxiety treatment for them.
Moreover, you may also find out that they have co-occurring disorders—in addition to their ADHD. In fact, two-thirds of people with ADHD have at least one co-existing condition.
Perhaps you may already know that your child has ADHD, but you did not realize that they also have one of the following conditions:
Anxiety
Autism
Conduct disorders, such as oppositional defiant disorder
Learning disorders
Mood disorders, including depression and bipolar
Personality disorders
Sleep disorders
Substance abuse
Tics and Tourette Syndrome
Note: ADHD can co-exist with many other childhood disorders. Although, those mentioned here are the most common ones.
Examples of Overlapping Symptoms
Since ADHD has similar symptoms to many different mental health challenges, symptoms can overlap easily, making a correct diagnosis more difficult.
For example, someone with anxiety might exhibit fidgeting behavior, as well as problems with sleep and concentration. All of these are also symptoms of ADHD.
Plus, problems with concentration are symptoms of depression as well. And people with depression may also experience memory problems, inattention, and trouble completing tasks. Again, all of these are symptoms of ADHD.
It can be so tempting to self-diagnose, especially in our modern age where information about countless illnesses is so readily on hand via the Internet. You might go to a doctor with a specific illness in mind, and yet, that's not at all what the problem is.
Since symptoms overlap, it really is important to get a professional and complete evaluation for your child.
In fact, even if you have a diagnosis, you might want to ask a new practitioner for an evaluation. The likelihood of co-occurring disorders is high, so your child can really benefit from a comprehensive review.
Treatment Can Vary by Person
You might be thinking that if the symptoms are the same anyway, the diagnosis doesn’t matter. In other words, if your child can’t sleep, does it really matter if it's because of depression, anxiety, or ADHD? As long as you treat the symptom and they feel better, why should it make a difference?
The thing is that each illness has its own best treatment.
Moreover, each individual child will have different holistic needs, depending on their unique combination of issues. Treating the underlying condition(s) goes a lot further towards total wellness than trying to tackle symptom after symptom.
Working with professionals can help you to figure out the best treatment option for your child.
Sometimes, parents choose to treat ADHD symptoms first, before dealing with other psychiatric issues. That’s because the ADHD treatment can reduce your child's stress and improve attention. In turn, this makes it easier to move forward with treating the second condition.
--
A second condition, or co-existing disorder, is very common for children with ADHD. Left untreated, its symptoms can cause unnecessary suffering. A psychologist can help you with a full evaluation of your child's problems to meet their exact, unique combination of needs.
Click here for more information on pyschoeducational evaluations.