Posted by Henry Miller on May 27, 2008, at 11:11:20
In reply to Re: SOCIAL ANXIETY / OCD/ ADHD CURE --100% » Henry Miller, posted by Phillipa on May 26, 2008, at 23:39:02
Philipa, I don't have any links but my doctor, who is an ADHD specialist and professor at Stanford, seems to believe that the root cause of most social anxiety stems from an underlying attention deficit conditon. Particularly if you're suffering from an overfocused type of adhd.
Many people with social anxiety are perfectionists, typically highly intelligent and analytical and care deeply about others and especially about how others perceive them. Perfectionism, I believe, is the bridge between ADHD and social anxiety. For ex. Someone says something about your physical appearance. Your ADHD kicks in and you hyperfocus/obsess about what that person said to you. You are unable to let go of it. The next time you are out in public, you're obsessing about what that person said and then someone says something else..perhaps about your face going red....the cycle continues and the neural networks of self-defeat become more entangled with negative thinking. A person with ADHD overfocused(which is really just ADHD co morbid OCD) can never let go of what they perceive as negative criticisms...they constantly worry and in an effort to control their worries and what they perceive as a painful environment, perfectionism ensues...and 15 to 20 years later, they have severe social anxiety and agoraphobia and depression etc....
My doc believes that 90% of people with ADHD go untreated into adulthoold and only show up in his office later for treatment of secondary issues such as anxiety and depression and unfortunatley..the adhd may have metastasized into bipolar if left untreated for too long. As children, they were never diagnosed with ADHD because most overfocused types with social anxiety are highly intelligent. I received straight A's in school so why would anyone give me a stimulant for ADHD?? right?(It didn't matter that I would randomly get up in front of class as a kid and pull my pants down while my teachers were writing on the chalk board yet when my teachers would call on me, I could never speak, out of fear that I might sound stupid or blush)Phillipa, there's clearly a great deal that the medical community doesn't understand about all these disorders but I believe, as does my psychiatrist, that ADHD, social anxiety and even some forms of bipolar depression run together. I DO think that stimulant medications can be very effective treatment for some forms of social anxiety(which seems paradoxical) and that Desoxyn is the superior med. I'm actually weaning off my Klonopin b/c I no longer need it to control peripheral anxiety(the irritable, shaky anxiety that Adderall and Ritilin and Dex caused).
poster:Henry Miller
thread:831249
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080519/msgs/831399.html