Changing diagnosis from ADHD to anxiety

[GinAndTonic]

difficult child was diagnosed with severe ADHD (and ODD) last summer, and again last fall. But today his new psychiatrist -- the first one he's seen -- told me he doesn't think it's ADHD at all, but instead might actually be anxiety.

Huh? Has anyone else run into this? I agree he's anxious, but are the two that similar?

 

[Josie]

I thought my younger daughter had ADHD. Even her psychiatrist and todoc agreed it was likely. Her psychiatrist said we needed to figure out if it was anxiety or truly ADHD. A neuropsychologist evaluation determined it was anxiety.

 

[flutterbee]

Yep. My daughter has extreme anxiety and it looked *a lot* like ADHD when she was younger. It took one therapist 8 months of weekly sessions to decide she did not have ADHD.

 

[Jena]

hi

first pysch doctor i brought my difficult child to thought she was adhd and a bunch of other stuff. i knew he was totally wrong. sure enough last two pysch doctor's found it was anxiety disorder along wiht Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and bi polar. so i could def. see that happening without a doubt.

are they similar the two?? i'd say from what i know of both that anxiety can affect many different areas of our lives. so yes could def. affect focus, make them a bit jumpy or hyper.

i can't remember exact list of adhd symptoms was long ago yet that doesnt' surprise me adhd to anxiety disorder.

do you find your child to be anxious? always worried about what's coming next, where are we going, once out in public whos that?? always kinda nervous and on edge

jen

 

[GinAndTonic]

He does get anxious, and scared about things that other kids probably don't find that scary. He can't watch any TV shows with any tension at all -- even Dora the Explorer (ptooey) is too tense for him, because of Swiper the Fox. An anxiety problem makes sense... oh, it's so complicated!

Thanks for your responses. It's good to hear this isn't a weird thing to have happen. And it's only been two visits so far, so who knows what'll turn up in the end...