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Is there a link between Schizophrenia, ADHD, and OCD?
How can one person have Schizophrenia, ADHD, and OCD? Is there a link between these three conditions?
41 yr old, Female
asked Apr 14, 2010 at 11:05PM in Other
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1VotesI've heard of no proven link between schizophrenia, ADHD, and OCD.
The three conditions have all been connected to the frontostriatal region of the brain, which includes the prefrontal cortex. But that does not imply that they are associated, merely that they have a brain region in common.
To vastly simplify -- as we must if we laypeople are to understand anything at all about brain function -- ADHD and OCD are somewhat considered at opposite ends of the neurochemical spectrum. That is, with ADHD, the prefrontal cortex is thought to be underactive; with OCD, prefrontal cortex activity is thought to be overactive.
But alas, the human brain is exceedingly complex, and it's common enough for ADHD to co-exist with OCD.
As for schizophrenia, one study indicates that young people who have ADHD and have a close relative with schizophrenia could be at greater risk for developing schizophrenia.
http://pn.psychiatryonline.org/content/37/24/22.2.full
While it's definitely possible for a person to have all three conditions -- genes mix in mysterious ways -- it's also possible that the person's symptoms have been misdiagnosed.
For example, sometimes a person with undiagnosed ADHD has developed coping strategies that assist in staying organized and on schedule. To the less-than-astute clinician, these often-rigid habits might appear as OCD.
It's also not beyond the pale for ADHD to be misdiagnosed as schizophrenia -- especially in decades past. -
0Votesanswered Apr 17, 2010 at 05:01PMThank you for your response.
This is interesting, as I have two close relatives who had schizophrenia. (I'm the person who has schizoaffective disorder, adhd and ocd.) Some of my adhd symptoms were misdiagnosed as schizophrenia symptoms. I've had many home, work and relationship issues that were assumed to be related to schizophrenia, but weren't relieved by antipsychotics. When I started taking adhd medication, I had a vast improvement in those areas and in retrospect can see that I've had these issues since I was quite young. However, the adhd medication seems to have increased some of my ocd issues, in particular repetition and organization. However, since I seem to have less boredom, some of my ocd things that show their head when I'm bored have decreased.
I don't feel like the schizoaffective disorder, adhd and ocd are random problems. They all feel intertwined in some way or another. A medication for one problems seems to affect another problem. For instance, my adhd medication worsens my ocd, but only the repetition and organization. My mood-stabilizer and conventional antisychotic seem to really help my ocd, where my ssri seems to have left off. It's all a twisted web.
Thank you. -
1VotesYou're welcome, LIsa. I'm glad you found it helpful.
I can see where it could be confusing, trying to sort out all these complex neurochemical threads. The neuroscientists haven't even figured them out. :-)
Here's a tidbit that might help explain at least some of what you've experienced:
As it's been explained to me by several psychiatrists, the stimulants (which target dopamine) can back-suppress serotonin in parts of the brain. And vice-versa.
So, that might account in part for why the stimulants exacerbate your OCD (which is generally considered a serotonin issue). And this "teeter-totter" effect might also explain why a person with ADHD who takes only an anti-depressant might experience intensified ADHD symptoms.
As to your other point, sometimes the ADHD "hyperfocus" tendency is confused with OCD-related behavior.
At some point, of course, I think it's helpful for clinicians to "lose the labels' and target the symptoms. Moreover, instead of strictly hewing to the DSM descriptions, which are largely based on observation of behavior and not on actual neurochemical mechanisms, it's time to incorporate more objective data.
In fact, Dr. Charles Parker wrote a blog post on that subject today.
http://www.corepsychblog.com/2010/04/psychiatric-diagnostic-labels-functional-or-static/
You might enjoy the rest of his posts on related subjects. -
1VotesP.S. Lisa, I ran across this article this morning while researching another topic. You might find it interesting, as it discusses schizophrenia, dopamine, prefrontal cortex, and estrogen.
https://www.msu.edu/~ewenjoan/
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