Sociopath Community

If a psychiatrist thinks someone with a cluster B disorder has ADHD, maybe they should treat that first. That way they should have a better picture of the cluster B diorder and can then treat it better.

Yes, but I think that given aspects like dissociation and detachment,some of the symptoms of the ADD/ADHD present as the original disorder and not the latter. Which would effectively mean that not only does it remain unseen and untreated, but would continue to potentially affect the comorbid disorder.

That's a good point, but if you don't know for sure what's wrong, assume the easier problem to treat(while still trying to treat the the other problem) is the primary problem. In other words, do the easy stuff first.

I'm assuming that ADHD is easier to treat than cluster B disorders. Also, I assume that the other problem can wait until ADHD is treated or eliminated as a problem. I read the links kind of fast. I'll give them a proper reading later.

One of the issues I think is that I assume different neurology behind ADD vs ADHD. They look at symptoms as this "attention" thing and make it center of the "disorder". I do not believe in JUST looking at symptoms and group up what seems a little similar, also I do not believe in a problem with attention.

ADHD and ADD are two separate things. The reason I was never seen as ADD (which I am diagnosed with), is that I basically share no traits with those with ADHD. I'm not reckless, impulsive or drawn to street drugs. I do not have the slightest dyslexia, I'm not left handed and I was good at school.

Dyslexia and lefthandedness (which indeed NEEDS a very different neurology) is overrepresented in ADHD but not so much in ADD.

They are different conditions. ADHD can border to psychopathy while ADD does not.

Technically, ADD is considered one of three subtypes of ADHD. The term ADD is still used by many parents and teachers, but since 1994, doctors have been calling it by its formal name: ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type. The other two subtypes are ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type, and ADHD Combined Type, which involves both hyperactive-impulsive and inattentive symptoms.

People with the inattentive type of ADHD may have trouble finishing tasks or following directions. They tend to be sluggish and slow to respond and process information. It’s often difficult for them to sift through relevant and irrelevant information. They may be easily distracted and appear forgetful or careless. Their symptoms are less overt compared to an individual with hyperactive and impulsive symptoms. Unfortunately, as a result, many individuals with the predominantly inattentive subtype of ADHD are often overlooked.

http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/194/1/62.long

Psychopathy in ADHD children

Although ADHD and CD are apparent risk factors for adult psychopathy, there are three distinct perspectives regarding their relationships to psychopathy: (1) ADHD may contribute uniquely to the development of psychopathy or (2) its contribution may reflect its high comorbidity with CD. Alternatively, (3) the comorbid presence of ADHD and CD may confer unique risk for the development of psychopathy. Although prior adult studies have yielded conflicting findings, no prior studies of adolescents address this issue. We examined these three hypotheses and the possibility of sex differences using cross-sectional analyses in 90 male and 123 female incarcerated adolescents. Among males the influence of ADHD was largely attributable to the overlap between ADHD and CD, whereas among females ADHD contributed independently to psychopathy scores and to scores on several dimensions of psychopathy. In addition, among females, the ADHD x CD interaction was significant for the total score and the antisocial component of psychopathy and in a direction opposite to that predicted by the comorbid subtype hypothesis. These findings indicate that there may be sex-specific pathways to elevations in psychopathic traits and suggest that the comorbid subtype hypothesis is probably not correct for either boys or girls.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19387992

I have read that it is a good idea to "fix" underlying problems before tackling Personality disorders.

So, ADD, Anxiety, Depression, etc would be treated with pills or therapy.

Alcohol or drug addiction should be addressed as well.

Then you can see if you even have a Personality Disorder that can be diagnosed. The traits may have been alleviated.

An article on the nature of ADHD from a man I consider a truly original genius, Sandeep Gautam:

(The image on the left is a non-ADHD brain scan, the scan on the right was from a person with ADHD)

ADHD has traditionally been conceptualized in terms of deficits- that of attention , impulse control or motor restraint; but the new neurodiversity paradigm forces us to take a more balanced look and acknowledge the strengths that the ADHD kid may have- divergent thinking, spontaneity and high energy and vitality.

That brings me to research by Cramform that shows that the symptoms that define ADHD/ADD- hyperactivity, impulsivity and distractability are just the negative connotation and spin put on some of the traits that define highly creative and gifted child- the traits of Vitality, spontaneity and daydreaming/wandering phenotype.

But first things first. ADHD , as many of the readers will know , is defined by three primary symptoms- hyperactivity or the restlessness and fidgety or squirming behavior of the kid; impulsiveness or the inability to control impulses manifest in overt behavior like getting up in class and interrupting; and distractibility where the kid ends up paying too much attention, even to stimuli that are extraneous and should be ignored, thus leading to fleeting attention! ADHD is a traditional classroom misfit and thus a traditional teachers nightmare. However, one should note that a traditional teacher is not too much impressed by the highly creative kid too, who proves to be a bit too much to placate and who doesn’t conform too easily.

But what could be the mechanism why ADD/ADHD must be so closely related to and resembling creativity traits as to be indistinguishable from it by behavioral symptoms alone? I believe dopamine and frontal cortex are the culprit. We have seen in the past that dopamine is related to creativity and we have seen that frontal cortex is related to creativity; and we have also seen that dopamine is related to ADHD. As a matter of fact ADHD on a neurotransmitter level is characterized by dopamine’s quirky behavior , while on the neuroanotomic level is known by the late development of frontal cortex that is an inhibitor to other areas like motor areas and impulsive areas (basal ganglia and sub-cortical regions) thus leading to symptoms of impulsivity and hyperactivity. In creative people too, especially in divergent form of creativity, we see that creativity manifest itself when dopamine comes into play and when frontal regions give up their control of other regions of the brain thus making remote associations more likely.

Of course dopamine is not just involved in ADHD, but also in Psychosis and thus my theory of Autism and Psychosis as opposites would claim that ADHD is childhood form of psychosis and is opposed to Autism. There is already some support for that idea with autism and ADHD being discovered as opposites and with ADHD more common in bipolar probands.

The dual symptoms of ADHD as inattention and as hyperactivity/ implusivity are easy to conceptualize when one sees that one is trying to maximize predictive ability / minimize surprise and also maximize rewards by being flexible in one;s behavior and taking risks rather that persevering on the well trodden path. Both attention-allocation and action-selection are sensitive to dopamine and in one particular phenotype result in more leaning towards flexibility, distracatibility, hyper energy and arousal and more novelty and thrill seeking. The desire is to explore and not to exploit. The hunter rather than the farmer as per Hartman’s model. These same are characteristics of the creative phenotype- those touched with fire- and thus on the move literally or figuratively- always seeking new combination and ideas and exploring uncharted territory.

Perhaps its time we stopped negatively labellings the gifted, creative ADDers as difficult kids, but rather design and structure classrooms around them that bring their potential to the fullest and make them bloom fully. Lets not stifle the creativity. Lets not devalue the immense energy and joy these child exhibit and the creative potential they embody.