Do you have ADHD and wonder how you got it? Do you look at your family that you grew up with and wonder was there something that happened that could have contributed to you developing attention deficit issues? I will attempt to answer both these questions in this week's blog post, so read on.
ADHD is an Increasingly Difficult Problem These Days
As time goes on more and more children and adults are being diagnosed with ADHD on a regular basis. The pace and frenetic nature of modern technological living, cannot help but contribute to this, but the focus does not solely lie in our modern technological lifestyle. Evidence is now growing that links attention deficit issues to childhood trauma, and this helps to give us a better understanding of how it can develop.
How ADHD and Trauma Are Connected
If you were a child, growing up in a family where the adults, for some reason or another, seemed more focused on what was happening with them. You probably had to exercise an extra degree of alertness and vigilance to feel like you were protecting yourself. If one of your parents was traumatized, you probably felt like you had to also be very alert and watch out to protect yourself and/or your family. This form of hypervigilance is one of the key symptoms of PTSD, but it also can go along with increased levels of energy, hyper-focusing on certain things, and some degree of fearlessness that can go with impulse control issues that characterize ADHD.
The Key Here with ADHD is Understanding, Not Blaming
The physician and author, Gabor Maté, in his book the Myth of Normal, does a good job of helping to bring greater awareness to how ADHD can, and sometimes does develop in people. He helps us to focus on not only the broader societal forces that can contribute to attention deficit and hyperactivity developing in children, but as a fellow sufferer, he also draws attention to how multi generational trauma can contribute to development of attention and hyperactivity issues in children. Not only is he a sufferer of this affliction, but one or more of his children are as well. If attention deficit and hyperactivity are a result of trauma, as well as other forces affecting the developing child, then there’s overall less blame to go around in coming to grips with the diagnosis and moving forward in one’s life.
Trauma Therapy Can Help in Recovering From ADHD
To the extent that you suffer from unresolved childhood and past trauma, then using trauma therapy, such as EMDR or Image Transformation Therapy (ImTT) can be an important aid in recovering from this disorder. It can help to eradicate the cause of ADHD in terms of the trauma, and help to empower you to be less impulsive and reactive in your life going forward. There are some important coping skills, as well as possible medication and/or nutritional supplement changes that might need to be made, but you definitely stand to gain from treating the trauma that may have contributed to your developing this condition.
What If You Need Professional Help in Dealing with ADHD?
While I am not an expert in ADHD, I am an expert in helping people recover from trauma. I’ve been helping people recover from trauma for my entire professional social work career, and use several different methods of helping treat people for trauma. One of the mainstays is EMDR, as well as Image Transformation Therapy, or ImTT. I would be happy to talk to you and offer a free 20 minute consult to help you get a better idea of whether I can help you in your own recovery from ADHD. While many people take medication to treat attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, there are also a number of people who resist taking prescription medication to treat it. I can help give you a better idea of whether this is something that might be helpful as well. Regardless, you can only benefit from getting professional help to cope with the consequences and complications of this chronic disorder in your life. Freeing yourself from the grips of trauma can be an important key in having overall well-being in your life going forward.
Visit Scott’s page on trauma therapy to find out about how Scott can help you with ADHD trauma.
About the author: Scott Kampschaefer, LCSW is a private practice therapist in Frederick, Maryland. He has an extensive background in working with depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder at a clinic for older adults with these disorders in Austin. He now works with adults and adolescents 14 and up in private practice. His most recent book is titled The 5 Pillars of Addiction Recovery and is available for purchase on Amazon and in paperback on this website.