Comment by rendx
2 years ago
What is your team's take on the theory of ADHD as a "survival strategy" of childhood/parent trauma, and healing it by working through the trauma instead of merely managing its symptoms?
2 years ago
What is your team's take on the theory of ADHD as a "survival strategy" of childhood/parent trauma, and healing it by working through the trauma instead of merely managing its symptoms?
I'm not on that team, but: that doesn't meet my experience in the slightest. My parents are great, and I didn't have any significant childhood trauma. In retrospect, my symptoms went back to when I was a wee little lad, well before I had to deal with any of life's curveballs.
Well, that theory says that typically memories of traumatic events are repressed and show up only in form of symptoms like ADHD. Your "claim" that you had a non-traumatic childhood (and your parents did neither?) does not invalidate that theory.
It's interesting how I was downvoted. I am just curious, I am not saying one or the other is "true". I have no idea, I am not a professional. However, I do think it is a relevant question to ask and discussion to have.
I am just looking into this as someone who only in his 40s discovered that he had significant childhood trauma that he was not in any way aware of, and my mother too which is something we never talked about, and that my symptoms and my "suffering" has finally almost disappeared now that I'm doing proper trauma therapy. I would have claimed I had "great parents" and "no childhood trauma" in the same way as you, and rejected that theory, if you had asked me a few years ago.
The way the theory is phrased makes it unscientific and the HN community in general tends to be especially critical when that occurs.
I also want to add that the scientific-ness of it or not doesn't invalidate it as an explanatory device in your personal journey - they are on orthogonal axes.
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I didn't downvote you but I honestly just hate this kind of thing.
"You didn't have childhood trauma you say? Sounds just like something somebody who did have childhood trauma would say!"
Like what the hell are you supposed to say to something like this?
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Maybe there's just overlap between CPTSD symptoms and ADHD, not that they're literally the same thing.
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While I don’t doubt your experience at all, really, I have great parents and a nice childhood in a happy house.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.
It really depends on the person. It's the case for some folks but definitely not all (not myself) and in that case, it's important to address the root cause. Our team actually advocates for mixed treatment when relevant (while acknowledging the provider shortage, differences in means/access to quality healthcare) - this usually includes working with psychiatric, clinical, counseling and psychotherapy practitioners (and/or coaches). These treatment protocols may include medication, therapy, and more. Doesn't need to be done all at once, but drawing on these tools as needed.