Posted by yesac on July 6, 2005, at 16:16:09
In reply to uh, Anxiety is not ADD, sorry., posted by utopizen on July 6, 2005, at 14:51:50
> Anxiety, as well as depression, can mimic ADD, but unless you had ADD prior to the age of 7, you don't meet the DSM-IV criteria.
Who cares? DSM criteria are not the be-all-and-end-all of mental health/illness. Many people do not meet the criteria for various DSM disorders... that doesn't mean that they don't have the problem at all. Humans are not that black and white. It's not necessarily a matter of you have it or you don't. People do not always fit into the boxes that the DSM creates.Her husband may or may not have an attention disorder, or he may have attention problems due to depression or anxiety... Strattera or another ADD med could still help him with those attention symptoms, regardless of what disorder he has.
> There's no "racing thoughts" symptom in the DSM-IV for ADD. That's a confusion about people mixing up the physical hyperactivity symptom you might have with it and equating that to how your brain moves, which is not rational to say the least.
She may not have meant actually racing thoughts, but possibly more like too many thoughts constantly in her husband's head and/or distractability due to too many thoughts. I have ADD and that is how I would describe my thoughts.... many thoughts jumping around and distracting me from paying attention to other things.
> Also, your husband has alcoholism, not from ADD, or from anxiety, but because he has alcoholism.
I don't think you can make that diagnosis from what Woolav said. It's a bit harsh to say a thing like that.
> Stimulants, trust me, in someone with anxiety, speed up racing thoughts, and do not calm them down.
They calm me down. My heart rate may be higher, but I don't equate that with not being calm. Your heart rate speeds up when you exercise, too, but that doesn't mean that you're anxious. I'm sure that stimulants increase anxiety in many people, but I don't think you can make the generalization that it will happen to everyone. My mind feels much more calm on stimulants, despite my anxiety problems.
Your experience is unique, and drugs as well as disorders affect people differently.
poster:yesac
thread:523646
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050702/msgs/524334.html