Comment by Nition
1 year ago
When I see symptoms of ADD/ADHD described, they always sound like the way I feel when I haven't had enough sleep. I've looked up whether there's any correlation before, and they generally say that ADD can also cause difficulty sleeping.
I'm sure the experts have thought about all this a thousand times more than I have, but could that conclusion be partly the wrong way around? Even if sleep trouble doesn't cause ADD, it can't be helping.
I have ADHD as well as irregular sleep. I've had both these issues my entire life. Of course, I do notice reduced focus when I don't sleep enough, and at the same time, ADHD meds can mask these somewhat.
But I assume the reason I have ADHD and not just a sleep disorder is that when I'm well-rested (if I've slept 7+ hours every night for the last week) I still have symptoms of ADHD.
Is it possible that sleep issues as a child, or extended periods of less-than-perfect sleep caused the issues that I now have with focus? Sure.
But ADHD also has a pretty strong genetic link, so I suspect it's more related to inherited neurobiological differences rather than just damage to the brain from a period of poor sleep. I don't doubt that what gets diagnosed as ADHD could also be caused by damage to the brain though, and I also suspect there are multiple kinds of (genetically controlled) neurological atypicalities that get lumped together as "ADHD"
Thanks for the great answer. Reading back my comment I think I worded it too strongly really - I really don't want to imply, like, "maybe people with ADD just need to get more sleep." I'm sure anyone with a lifelong condition has tried every simple solution already. But the similarity of symptoms is interesting.