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In modern terms, it is nervous system co-regulation, and, yes, that’s a thing.

Many people with ADHD also suffer from complex PTSD (see comorbidity studies), and unless treated, this has effects like social anxiety and emotional dysregulation.

Emotional neglect in early childhood for example can be a ‘silent‘, non-obvious factor at play here (even caring parents can be emotionally unavailable for longer periods of time due to environmental or personal reasons!), which for the later adult means they have not (yet) learned the skill to regulate their nervous system on their own and can make use of a replacement ‘caretaker‘.