Disorders that Accompany Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Disorders that Sometimes Accompany ADHD

Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder may also have a specific learning disability (20-30%), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (1/3-1/2, mostly boys), conduct disorder (20-40%), anxiety or depression. A very small proportion of people with ADHD have a neurological disorder called Tourette syndrome. Bipolar disorder is yet another condition that can be difficult to distinguish from ADHD.

Learning disabilities (LD) include difficulty in understanding certain sounds or words and/or difficulty in expressing oneself in words. In school age children, reading or spelling disabilities, writing disorders, and arithmetic disorders may appear.

Tourette syndrome is a neurological disorder characterized by various nervous tics and repetitive mannerisms, such as eye blinks, facial twitches, or grimacing. Some victims clear their throats frequently, snort, sniff, or bark out words. While very few children have this syndrome, many of the cases of Tourette syndrome have associated ADHD. In such cases, both disorders often require treatment that may include medications.

As their names imply, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder are characterized by a variety of anti-social behaviors.

Some children with ADHD often have co-occurring anxiety or depression. As you might expect, treating any one of these conditions tends to ameliorate the others.

There are no accurate statistics on how many children with ADHD also have bipolar disorder, which may produce very similar symptoms.

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