PTSD VS ADHD

So the question is, what came first, the ADD or the PTSD. There is no doubt I have both. I never realized that a person could develope PTSD just from growing up in a dysfunctional environment. Therefore, I never considered that it could even be one of my issues, much less the main one.

One interesting factoid is that I remember being able to concentrate and remember things from a very early age. I learned to read before school, way before. And it seemed I was always remembering things others had forgotten. The ADD symptoms started in around 2nd grade. My best friend Diedre Davis's mom was a volunteer for some sort of language arts class and she used to always call me daydreamer. In fact, she was the ONLY one who ever noticed that I had a "problem". Although, nobody knew what it was, and they didn't call it a problem. It was just part of your personality or character.

Interestingly, the symptoms for ADD and PTST are almost exactly the same. I could list them for you, but... I'm not sure it's all that interesting. The interesting part is that since I became an adult and began investigating myself, wondering what the evolutionary hold up was, I discovered that the reason I cried and slogged my way through college was because I'm severely ADD/Inattentive type. I discovered this about 6- 8 years after graduating.... I am now at 13 years past that... SO, lo these many years later, I am just NOW learning that I have most definitely developed a serious case of untreated PTSD. Oddly, as I mentioned the symptoms are very close. So, my theory has branched out in the last few weeks as I've been mulling and researching about all of this.

My best guess is that many (not ALL) ADD people of the generation (born between the 50s-60s) are more likely to have PTSD either mixed with, or presenting as ADD/ADHD. The evolution of how we treat children and what we know about their development and etc. has changed for the better in the last 20 years. What many families thought of as "normal" family stuff, is now known to be abusive and traumatic behavior and dynamics. The theory is that most everyone who is between ages 40-50+ who discovered ADHD in adulthood, probably actually have PTSD. I think this is very important because as the therapy protocols do seem to overlap, there are some very important differences as well. For some people it could be that once the PTSD is treated, perhaps their brains will stop behaving like a person's brain who has ADHD....? It's a damn interesting link, donchya think?

I just feel better about getting closer to the nugget of what I am actually trying to treat!
That's all for now.
pf