Can encephalitis have an effect on your brain and cause ADHD?

I had encephalitis in '02 and although I am almost back to my regular self. I have had lots of problems with holding down a job and concentrating. Before I got sick I held steady jobs for years and for the most part did good in them. But my lack of concentration and temper have caused me to leave them in less than a year something that I never experienced before I was sick. Now I am told that I have ADHD and know I never had problems like the ones I have now. Well the ones I started to have until after my bout of encephalitis.

I've a response saying that the ADHD has no relation to the encephalitis I had before but the residual effects such as lesions on my brain have left me with epilepsy which I was told that over time can cause me to have problems in the future. Also, the encephalitis I had was not bacterial are viral. Instead it was an autoimune disease. It was ADEM, Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis which was spontanous so it couldnt have masked the ADHD since it was only present for a month, that doesnt make sense to me but any information helps.

Yes, it can. That was in fact how ADHD was first discovered. In 1918-1919 there was an encephelitis epidemic and many people came down with it, after they had recovered many were left with lots of problems with concentration, hyperactivity and behavior. They called the condition Post encephalitic behavior disorder. But they then discovered that many people had the problems who never had encephalitis and thats when they learned baout ADHD (but it was called other things not ADHD at the time).

When you had encephalitis it could have damaged the part of your brain than is responsible for creating the chemicals that people with ADHD are also lacking so yes, it would have caused your ADHD.

Encephalitis as you know is an infection that once treated, should put you back on the road to your old self. With ADHD it's a mental issue that is not caused by a bacteria or virus that you get better by taking antibiotics. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is more of a condition caused by certain chemicals in the brain becoming insufficient to keep your concentration and attention in one area for a specific amount of time. With the normal amount of the lacking chemicals a person is in control of what, when, and for how long they do something. Since your concentration is also effected the control of your temper is also. There are many medications ( or chemical replacement) treatments used today. It's finding the right amount and mixture that will help you that the problem is. The name really says it all. It is in no way related to the encephalitis. Maybe you had it all along, but the encephalitis masked the problem for awhile. Good luck with this disorder, it can be easily treated and controlled with medication and treatment today.