Multiple Disorders
Sometimes people with ADHD also have additional medical issues. For instance, according to research, 50 to 70 percent of children with ADHD also have tic disorders.
ADHD frequently co-occurs with other illnesses and disorders that can cause tics, such as:
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD): According to research, tics are most common in people whose OCD symptoms involve aggressive compulsions and symmetry behaviors.
- Tourette syndrome (TS): Many people who have been diagnosed with TS also have ADHD symptoms. The percentage might be as high as 90%. According to several studies, tics for TS sufferers decrease during adolescence. During adolescence, TS patients tend to experience less severe ADHD and OCD symptoms. [3]
- Autism spectrum conditions: Some of the repetitive behaviors associated with autism are face, body, and voice tics. About 20 to 50 percent of people with ADHD are also autistic.
These neurodevelopmental conditions have an impact on the same brain regions and structures as ADHD. It is not surprising that the illnesses create overlapping or similar types of symptoms because they also have certain hereditary roots. All of these conditions sharing similar effects makes it difficult to determine the exact cause of tic.