Adult ADHD: Comorbidites

Video Transcript

"The term comorbidity means appearing with one another; it's when a disease or disorder tends to coincide with the appearance of another disease or disorder. And in talking about ADHD, comorbidity is the rule as opposed to the exception. It's more uncommon to have an adult who just has ADHD, as opposed to an adult who has ADHD and depression, ADHD and anxiety, or ADHD and substance abuse. Depression, anxiety, and substance abuse are three of the most common disorders to appear with ADHD. Part of having ADHD is feeling like you're not quite right, doing things wrong because you overlooked something or you didn't do it in the way that's expected from somebody. ADHD kids often have trouble completing tasks in school, or completing homework, and that can put them at an academic disadvantage and a grade disadvantage with their teachers. They're receiving lower marks than they should have just due to these ADHD problems. And constantly having it reinforced that you're not quite right, something's wrong, it can lead to a great deal of anxiety in the ADHD adult. You've been conditioned to expect that you're going to have a problem. Depression is also a common because you don't--again, you don't feel quite right, and because there's something wrong with your brain chemistry, it's not uncommon--"