ADHD Vs. Schizophrenia: How They’re Different And How They Overlap
ADHD and schizophrenia are both disorders that can affect people’s brains, interactions, and ways of experiencing the world. They may share some similarities, but they also tend to be different in a few key ways. For example, schizophrenia usually involves hallucinations and delusions, whereas ADHD mainly features challenges with hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness. Treatment for these disorders often differs as well, although both schizophrenia and ADHD can often be managed with the proper professional support.
What is ADHD?
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can affect people’s abilities to pay attention, control their urges, sit still, and more. Often diagnosed during childhood, this disorder can cause symptoms of inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness.
Inattentiveness can look like:
- Struggling to pay attention
- Having a hard time staying motivated
- Daydreaming or “spacing out”
- Losing, forgetting, or overlooking things
- Making frequent “careless” mistakes on school or work projects
Hyperactivity and impulsiveness can look like:
- Fidgeting
- Having a hard time relaxing
- Making big decisions on a whim
- Taking needless risks
- Blurting things out or interrupting others
These symptoms can make it harder for people to manage work, school, and relationships. People with ADHD may be at a higher risk of depression and anxiety.
Exploring schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a severe mental illness that can affect the ways people think and act. Often diagnosed in young adulthood, it is primarily known for causing psychosis. (This can be defined as a state in which someone loses touch with reality.) It can also affect people’s moods, movement, and daily routines. Like ADHD, schizophrenia often occurs alongside depression and anxiety disorders.
Symptoms of schizophrenia are often referred to as "positive" or "negative." Positive symptoms of schizophrenia can also be called psychotic symptoms and may include those listed below:
- Delusions (false beliefs that others can't change)
- Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there)
- Disorganized thoughts or speech (talking or thinking in ways that don’t make sense)
Negative symptoms of schizophrenia may include the following:
- Lack of motivation to do daily tasks
- Lack of desire to interact with others
- Lack of ability to feel pleasure
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) lays out specific criteria for schizophrenia. It states that a person must experience at least two of these symptoms for the better part of a month, which severely affect their daily functioning, to be diagnosed with the disorder.
ADHD vs. schizophrenia: How are they similar?
ADHD and schizophrenia may have a few things in common. For instance, both ADHD and schizophrenia can affect people’s executive functioning skills. In general, these are the brain’s abilities to:
- Make plans
- Manage time
- Pay attention
- Control impulses
- Remember information
In people with schizophrenia, issues with executive function are sometimes called “cognitive symptoms.” They may not be discussed as much as positive and negative symptoms, but like in ADHD, they can cause challenges in daily life.
ADHD and schizophrenia may also share certain risk factors. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and American Psychiatric Association, genetics may play a key role in developing ADHD.
But there may be other risk factors, too, such as those below:
- Premature birth
- Low birth weight
- Exposure to toxins during the mother’s pregnancy
- Tobacco use during the mother’s pregnancy
Similarly, genetics may be likely to raise a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia, as well as other psychiatric disorders, like bipolar disorder. There may be other risk factors for schizophrenia as well. Some of these may overlap with ADHD risk factors, such as the following:
- Premature birth
- Low birth weight
- Pregnancy and birth complications
- Exposure to substances like tobacco
Finally, there may be some similarities between ADHD and schizophrenia when it comes to their effects on brain chemistry. Dopamine is a brain chemical that typically plays a role in pleasure, attention, movement, and motivation. Research suggests that ADHD may affect the ways the brain uses dopamine, potentially contributing to the disorder’s symptoms.
It's also thought that dopamine abnormalities in the brain may play a role in schizophrenia.
Given these similarities, you may wonder if there’s a link between having ADHD and developing schizophrenia. Research on this topic is ongoing.
In 2014, researchers looked at data on 208 adults with prior juvenile diagnoses of ADHD. They found that approximately 3.8% of them had gone on to develop schizophrenia.
This is higher than the rate of schizophrenia in the general population, which the World Health Organization states is around 0.32%.
ADHD vs. schizophrenia: How are they different?
Despite their similarities, ADHD and schizophrenia tend to be different in several ways.
ADHD symptoms usually begin to emerge during childhood. On the other hand, symptoms of schizophrenia don’t usually start until a later age. In men, this is typically between the late teens and mid-20s. Women may not be diagnosed until slightly later—usually in their late 20s to early 30s.
The symptoms of ADHD and schizophrenia usually differ as well. ADHD symptoms may affect attention, social interactions, and daily function. However, ADHD usually doesn’t cause psychotic symptoms. While schizophrenia can also contribute to challenges in daily life, this is more often due to symptoms like hallucinations and delusions.
Finally, schizophrenia and ADHD are usually treated differently. To relieve schizophrenia symptoms, medications like antipsychotics are often the first-line treatment. Therapy and ongoing mental health support can also be popular treatments for schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Some examples include the following:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy, which generally aims to identify and change negative thought patterns
- Social skills training, which usually focuses on improving relationships and communication
- Community support programs, which typically aim to help people live independently and function in daily life
Medication is often a core part of ADHD treatment as well. However, the medications used are different and may include stimulant, non-stimulant, or other options. Always consult your doctor or psychiatrist before starting, stopping, or changing the way you take medication. The information in this article is not a replacement for medical advice.
People with ADHD may also benefit from therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Other types of therapy may also be helpful:
- Interpersonal therapy, which usually aims to improve mental health by improving relationships
- Mindfulness-based therapy, which generally focuses on building awareness of thoughts and emotions in the present moment
The right combination of treatments for schizophrenia and ADHD may depend on the person, their doctor, and their needs.
Getting help for schizophrenia and ADHD
Whether you’ve just received a schizophrenia or ADHD diagnosis or you’ve been living with one of these conditions for a while, know that they can both be treatable. With proper support, people with schizophrenia and ADHD are often able to effectively manage their symptoms. If you haven’t already, you may want to talk to your doctor about starting treatment. They may be able to recommend a treatment plan that’s right for you.
Your doctor may suggest therapy as another step toward improving your daily function and quality of life. However, because ADHD and schizophrenia can affect motivation, this may make it harder to commute to in-person therapy. Online therapy generally empowers you to talk to a licensed therapist from the comfort of your own home. This may be more convenient than in-person therapy if you’re living with a mental illness that affects your motivation. However, please note that individuals currently experiencing acute positive or psychotic symptoms may require in-person care.
Online therapy can be an effective treatment for anxiety and depression, which often co-occur with both schizophrenia and ADHD. In a 2017 review, researchers looked at data from 373 studies of online CBT. They found that online therapy could be an affordable and effective treatment for depression and anxiety, as well as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ,bipolar disorder, and more.
Takeaway
Schizophrenia and ADHD can be seen as similar disorders in that they both affect the brain, and they may both have significant effects on people’s daily lives. They may share certain risk factors, such as genetics, and they may both impact certain chemicals in the brain. That said, there tend to be several differences between the two disorders. While ADHD may cause inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness, schizophrenia tends to cause hallucinations, delusions, and changes in mood and behavior. Their treatments often differ as well. With proper support, often including in-person or online therapy, both conditions may be managed for a better quality of life.
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