ADD and Dissociation/Detachment

[Zuku42]

Hello! I'm creating a post here for the first time because I've recently had a rather significant realization related to my diagnosis, and I'm wondering if anyone else has encountered something similar.

As you may be very familiar with, ADD (I know this depends on your approach to the ADHD spectrum, but this distinction makes the point I'm after easier, I think) has a lot to do with attention and memory. I was diagnosed this past September with ADD at 34. The main issues I have are associated with inattention and memory. Of course, there are others such as impulsiveness, prioritization, issues with time depth-perception, and others...ADD/ADHD is pervasive! But I knew, that beyond just realizing that some things take more effort for me than other people (and there are some things I'm better at too!), I have a lot of emotional work to do. I've been taking my time... although that's not exactly intentional. It can be so hard to find resources for ADHD! I'm currently in the process of getting an introductory meeting with someone, but I have had a lot of trouble finding anyone in the therapist/counselor/psychiatrist/etc category in my area (TN, I did just recently find out about Focus-MD which has locations in the area if anyone else is similarly looking).

AND to the topic of my post!! Sorry it took me a moment. What I'm getting at is that I have come to realize that one of my primary coping mechanisms appears to be detachment that reaches the point of dissociation at times. I have been able to identify dissociative experiences back to when I was younger than 7 years old and, after I realized what I was looking for, I have seen that it seems to have been a major influence on my life and especially my emotions of course. There are possible reasons as to why that may have become a thing for me, but the why isn't really relevant for this post. The reason I'm bringing it up is that the symptoms of ADHD (particularly those associated with Inattention) and Dissociation have a lot of overlap. It is spooky to me how much they do. I am wondering if dissociation is a thing more common in the ADHD population than the normal population. I still cannot really tell if it's my memory or my thinking (like with nature vs nurture). I am confident that I have ADHD but I am Certain that I dissociate (though I don't -think- mine would be considered severe). I can imagine it going either way, that ADHD would make dissociation easier for some yet more difficult for others, so I'm not sure. Memory not being the best and intense curiosity make me think it would be super easy for us ADHDers to distract ourselves, I dunno to be honest. That's why I'm reaching out to ask ^_^

I don't want to burden people with too much of a TL;DR, so I'll pull this in for a close. Right now, I'm just wondering if there are any others out there on the ADHD spectrum that have info on the two in relation to one another (dissociation/detachment & ADHD)? I would be especially enthused to hear from anyone with first hand experience related to the topic. Feel free to DM me if you'd rather not post to the public, I would greatly appreciate it and I will certainly respect any and all wishes for privacy and anonymity desired =D

Keep going strong and know that you have support out there, even if it is hard to find at times! The most important step a person can take is the Next Step and the most important words a person can say are I will do better! (from a book, but I love it).

I hope this finds you all well and in a worse place than you will be tomorrow! (because tomorrow will be better =P)

[STEM_Dad]

Your question is interesting and thought provoking. My own ADHD is the Inattentive presentation, with none of the hyperactivity-impulsivity traits of ADHD. I do not experience dissociation, and the only memory of an event in my life that was even close to dissociation, and that was when I was in shock in response to a car accident when I was a kid.

My understanding of dissociation is that it is most likely to develop in people who have experienced trauma, but also can be due to certain mental disorders not related to trauma (i.e. schizophrenia, for one). Trauma-related conditions can include PTSD, borderline personality disorder (BPD) or perhaps other personality disorders, dissociative identity disorder (I've sometimes read that DID can develop in response to childhood trauma, but I've also read that it can develop in connection to schizophrenia...I don't know much about this one).

I've researched a fair bit about BPD in recent years, because I suspect that my ex-wife has it, and that it's due to the abuse she went through as a child. (We just divorced after 20 years married; I tried to save the marriage, and learned of BPD when doing research to try to understand her better.)

In the early years of our marriage, I witnessed her go into a dissociative state several times... sometimes she seemed as if she was simply sleepwalking (conscious mind switched off), but a few other times she seemed to be displaying a completely separate personality. Most of those episodes occurred within our first five years of marriage, and only one recently.

I've also read a few places that dissociation can also be caused by some medications.

-----

Anyhow, my point is, I don't think that dissociation is related to ADHD. The only direct correlation may be as a response to medication, but I think with stimulant medications this type of response is more like an altered state.

From the best that I've been able to learn, I believe dissociation is much more likely to be due to a comorbidity. Perhaps a trauma-related condition, perhaps a personality disorder.

I'm certainly not an expert on this. I'm not a medical or psychology practitioner. I'm just a guy who's curious, and who is trying to understand a loved one better.

- My only real experience with dissociation is with the woman I love and was married to for a long time. (I do think there's a possibility she has sub-clinical Hyperactive-Impulsive ADHD, but I don't think that is related at all to her dissociating.)

[14Dahlias in reply to STEM_Dad]

DID and Schizophrenia are two very distinct disorders. DID is always caused by childhood trauma, usually severe trauma before the age of 10.

[STEM_Dad in reply to 14Dahlias]

Thank you for clarifying that about DID. It's a condition that I need to learn more about.

In the early years of my marriage to my ex-wife, I was beginning to think she had some sort of dissociative disorder, but then she stopped having dissociative episodes. I do recall that each episode seemed to be triggered by an event that caused her extreme stress. That goes for the one recent episode, as well.

She did have an extremely traumatic childhood. I still love her very much, and I wanted to provide her with as much safety and stability as I could, hoping it would be an environment that would help her to heal from the wounds of her past... But no matter how well-meaning you can be, ya can't make people heal. It's their journey to take.

[jilllewis84]

Since you have an idea of what life events may have led to your dissociation, you might want to look at C-PTSD (or complex PTSD) as a possible explanation. C-PTSD & ADHD are very similar and high rate of comorbidity. Being sensitive to the ways C-PTSD can show up (if that's an appropriate diagnosis) can be hugely helpful for symptoms that don't overlap with ADHD or don't respond to must ADHD treatments.

I see why you link dissociation/detachment to ADHD/working memory problems, but -- from what I understand -- how & where these things happen in the brain is very different. Working memory is holding many facts simultaneously to be able to apply them to a situation at hand. Dissociation is usually related to how traumatic memories are stored and retrieved by the brain.

If you're interested in looking into C-PTSD and similar symptoms books like the C-PTSD Workbook (by A. Schwartz) and The Body Keeps the Score (B. Van der Kolk) are great places to start.

[Unseelie]

I second the cptsd and ADHD present very similarly, and also would say that just in general, people with ADHD are more likely to be abused, and thus more likely to develop trauma related disorders. That's my first-instinct link between ADHD and dissociation, at least.

And because i didn't want to just spout misinformation, i poked at Google and it looks like there are some studies that find the rates of abuse are higher in the ADHD area. (There's a few longer studies i saw but i don't have the brain to read the whole thing right now, oop) ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Zuku42]

i Just wanted to post and say that I really appreciate everyone's responses! I've gotten a lot out of all of them. I will be sure to look more into C-PTSD as well . Thanks again!