child depression | ADHD Information

My youngest had depression and anxiety before we got the ADHD diagnosis and treatment. It was due to failure at school and no friends. She would sit in class and not interact at all in class. She would have rages at home and was running away rather than go to school. We felt so helpless and sad for our 9 year old.

She had a psychologist for play therapy (the "talking doctor" as my youngest called her) as we were going through diagnosis. This doc also went over our behavior modification plan and parenting stratagies with us. With meds, behavior modification and an IEP, thing got better. By treating her ADHD and related issues, the anxiety and depression went away.

For your son, it sounds like treatment is not working well enough; either the meds are not fully addressing the ADHD well enough (or are even adding to anxiety) or the depression needs separate treatment. I would start with an increase in meds and see if that helps. My youngest gets anxious when her meds are sub-optimal.

For a while, we even added Risperdal for my youngest for aggression due to anxiety. It helped during a period that she had a bad teacher and teasing at school. THis year, she has a terrific teacher and many friends so the risperdal is not needed.

There are so many things to sort out, but you will find your way.

may be time to try a different med. If you take away EVERYTHING, they have nothing to look forward to. How about giving ways to "Earn things back". Make sure he will be able to do it and get it back.

Example, you see him put good effort into homework, praise him and tell him you are so proud and he just earned himself tv time for that day......or a game with Mom....etc......

We've known since first grade that our son had ADHD.  He did fine, though, until fourth grade.  That year, he began to withdraw from friends, was unable to focus(even though he was on meds that had worked in the past), and his self-esteem was an all time low. The depression got so bad in fifth grade that he hid to avoid recess (his perception was that people hated him, talked about him, picked on him). Luckily, a great doctor told us that the ADHD meds could be making the anxiety and depression worse.  I say keep talking with the doctors.  A child should not have to wait and live in misery until s/he "grows out of the anxiety."  Childhood should be fun and full of happiness.  Proper medication and counseling/therapy can make a huge difference. Good luck!

My daughter is 6 and we started out with Concerta, and then Vyvansse. Both of these meds after a coupe of weeks made her depressed.  She felt worthless even talked about dying etc. On both of these meds she was also very withdrawn at school and at home. I posted on here my concerns and got a lot of responses that maybe she was not diagnosed correctly etc. I know it was the meds. Because after a couple of days and it would be out of her system. She would start to bounce back to her normal self. We went several months without meds, because I was so afraid this same thing would happen. I felt like all the stimulants would cause this horrible side effect. We are now taking Focalin XR 10mg and Tenex and it is amazing. We started out at 5mg and  it was not enough.  She is no longer withdrawn and is doing great. We are dealing with some rebounding. Besides that it is working perfect for us. I know all kids are different, but I would consider trying a different stimulant.  Best of luck I hope you find the answer very soon.  

My son also has very low self esteem possible depression and lack of friends at school.  He too always plays in his desk.  When we disipline him he will go around and hide all his pictures or throw out something special that he made ect.  It's soo sad.   My son cannot see his doctor or psychologist until March b/c of our stupid insurance (pre-existing condition) but when he does I am hoping they can help somehow.  In the meantime we try to give him as much encouragement and love as we can.  Sorry I can't be of much help but you are def. not alone.has anyone's child have depression? my son's teacher put on his last report card that he's withdrawn and does'nt interact with the kids. he will always put himself down saying he's stupid, retarded, a piece of po#p,etc, even though i always tell him he's great. i started him on omega's almost 2-3 mths ago trying to uplift him. I think he needs an increase in his meds because the teacher says all he does is play in his desk. all his grades have went down. he does'nt care about his schoolwork at all, whats an f he says, even though he has lost tv, etc for every bad paper he brings home. the drs don't want to increase him because he's so small- he'll be 9 in may and he's 47 lbs. are there any meds or suggestions to help his mood. he takes 15mg adderall xr and tenex 1 mg twice daily.