Often old people say that you can depict what habits your will child possess once they grow up. Though this is totally a philosophy. But you can surely detect some early warning signs in your child. Sometimes your child may behave differently. This can be normal or maybe a sign of the initial stage of mental health issues.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a mental health condition that usually starts in childhood and can continue in your adulthood too. Basically, a person with ADHD feels difficulty concentrating, and may result in behavioural problems like
- hyperactivity
- lack of attention
- lack of impulse control
- fidgeting and trouble sitting still
- difficulty organizing and completing tasks
The majority of the time, a person with ADHD is diagnosed with some other mental health issue too. Sometimes symptoms of that other mental health hide under the symptoms of ADHD. Reports say that 60 percent of people with ADHD have another mental health condition along with them. Most people with ADHD have an anxiety disorder along with it.
When small events start triggering your anxiety at a level that you feel things are getting out of control or when you feel anxious without any reason is where anxiety disorder stands. An anxiety attack takes place when there is something particular triggering the person. The majority of the times anxiety takes place due to some event or situation. Though, this is not the case always.
Symptoms of anxiety disorder can be so severe that they can affect your daily life activities. It can hamper your work-life, social life, and mental peace to an extent that you may feel like losing control.
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Symptoms of ADHD and anxiety
Symptoms of ADHD are a bit different from that of anxiety. It basically involves symptoms related to difficulty in concentration and focus. On the other hand, anxiety deals with issues related to nervousness and fear.
Symptoms of ADHD include-
- difficulty concentrating or paying attention
- trouble completing tasks
- forgetfulness
- inability to relax or feelings of restlessness
- difficulty listening to and following instructions
- inability to focus for long periods of time
Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder include –
- chronic feelings of worry or nervousness
- difficulty concentrating or paying attention
- inability to relax or feelings of restlessness
- fear without an obvious cause
- irritability
- trouble sleeping or insomnia
- headaches and stomachaches
- fear of trying new things
Though every condition has unique symptoms. Still, both these conditions can be very similar. So, it might be difficult to diagnose that you have anxiety, ADHD, or both.
How to spot the difference
A professional examination is important to determine that whether you are going through anxiety or ADHD. In some cases, even family members can tell the difference between ADHD and Anxiety. If you have an anxiety disorder you may be able to concentrate on situations that you fear causing anxiety to you. Whereas, it is difficult for a person with ADHD to concentrate in almost any situation. Thus, it is very important to understand the symptoms.
If a patient is diagnosed with both, ADHD and Anxiety, both the conditions may get severe together. The patient may experience more severe symptoms which can easily affect the behaviour. For example, anxiety can make it even more difficult for someone with ADHD to pay attention and follow through on tasks.
Also Read- Anxiety – Causes, Symptoms, Types & Treatment
Interdependance between ADHD and anxiety-
Though, it has not been clarified that how ADHD and anxiety are related to each other. Doctors don’t fully understand that what causes either condition. Both the conditions may be genetic. Studies also show several more conditions that may occur along with ADHD
- anxiety
- depression
- autism
- sleep disorders
- dyslexia
- substance abuse
- bipolar disorder
Treatment
Treatment for ADHD and anxiety at the same time can be a big challenge. This is because some medications prescribed for treating ADHD can trigger anxiety. Both the conditions need treatment. Doctors usually concentrate on the treatment of the condition that is hampering the quality of life more.
The treatments your doctor may recommend for both ADHD and anxiety include:
- cognitive and behavioral therapy – These therapies helps a person with ADHD or any other mental health issue to take out whatever they have in their mind. It’s very important to know that what is going on in the head of a mental health patient. Hence, therapist makes the patient comfortable enough to talk. During therapies patients can actually get many answers to their doubts.
- relaxation techniques – There are many relaxation techniques like breathing exercise. Counting down your breathing can help you in taking control of your breathing. Deep breathing exercises can help you in slowing down your breathing rate. And slowly you will feel a sense of calmness.
- meditation – A lot of mental health issues require peace. People with mental health issues crave peace and meditation is one of the best way to acquire it. Taking out some time to calm yourself down is very important.
- prescription medication – There are some antidepressant medications avaiable which can help in boosting up the happy harmone in a patient’s body. But one should consult a specialized doctor before taking any sort of medicines as they are very subjective when it comes to affecting health.
It is very important to be open with your doctor about your symptoms. Then only, he or she can be able to detect what issue you have and how to treat it. Make sure you describe your condition to your doctor very clearly without any coating.
How to manage your anxiety
Stress causes anxiety. Exercise is known as one of the best ways to reduce stress. Putting physical stress on your body can help you in relieving mental stress. If you are not regular at exercising, you may find it difficult in the initial days. You may feel that it is adding more to your anxiety but on some days you may feel the difference. Here, consistency is the key. Being regular at exercising can actually help you in dealing with anxiety.
You can notice that caffeine makes you anxious and especially coffee, reduces your sleeping will. Lack of sleep can play a huge role in making you anxious. Some studies totally contradict this statement, but it varies from body to body. If you feel anxious often, consider skipping your caffeine for some days. You can continue the process if it feels beneficial.
Anxiety is bad, but it goes worse when the person doesn’t share it out. Loneliness is of the major reasons for many mental health disorders like anxiety and depression. A person who is staying alone is more likely to overthink and it can very easily trigger your anxiety.
Procrastination is an act of delaying anything. Learn to set up your priorities and work accordingly. Procrastination will leave you with crumbled and a lot of work. This will make it difficult for you to complete the task on time and also will put you under a lot of stress. Stress can make you anxious.
This is one of the most tried and effective things to do when you are anxious. Anxiety surely makes your heart pound ghastly. This results in fasten up your breathing. All this combined makes you feel more anxious. You feel like everything is running and nothing is under your control. And in such times, it is very important to stop or slow down. And the first step you can take to slow down is to slow down your breathing first. Hence, deep breathing is considered to be one of the most effective ways to calm down your anxiety.
