I have ADD and depression, and for me they do go hand in hand. My depression seems to stem from the pattern of thoughts my ADD brain likes to take, such as constant thinking about :child abuse, animal abuse, the state of our environment, etc. etc. the "news" does not help. Since being diagnosed and taking ritalin, I have been able to channel my attention more on issues that are present and relevant in my life. I am still empathetic, but not overly so, I am still caring, but not consumed by the sadness in the world.
I am an adult who has symptoms of Depression & Adult ADD. I think that they may be related but I wold really like to hear from others so I can get a better sense of how others feel about these 2 illness.Pluckyduck123,
As for your question my answer would be I don't know! I have ADHD & depression and take medication for both.
-Tamara
I have both and always thought I just had depression, but now the Dr's say my depression is due to the ADD. So I take meds for both.Effexor XR 75MG 2X Daily, Strattera 40MG 2 X Daily, Provigil 200MG 1X Daily.
Here is a brief sysnopsis of my life and how my Depression and ADD fit into it:
I was born 1/15/1977. I grew up in a family of 2 parents and 1 older sibling (sister 2.5 yrs older). Very few kids to play with in the neighborhood. Enjoyed playing around with my dad when I was little. Felt like Daddy's little girl. Graduated from Kindergarten June 1983. Fall 1983 my dad was real sick and went into the hospital. Nov. 22, 1983 I come home from school and find mom is not home, Aunt Gladys (dad's only sibling) comes over and has us go across the street to her place for a few hours till mom gets home. Well mom comes home about 3 hours later and says she has something important to tell us. She says Daddy died. Inside I think that she must be mistaken then it hits me that Daffy is gone and I am the one who has to be stong for him and take care of my family now. (where the hell that came from I don't know) Well I went in to my aunt's bathroom and did not come out for over an hour. I was in there mentaly flipping out and finaly decided to hold all emotions in. (What a mistake)
From that point on I just tried to go on with life but my mom could not deal with it and she got seriously depressed. Well over the yers she got so bad that twice we ended up staying either in a foster home for 2 months or with church friends. That was frustrating. Well by 3rd grade I was daydreaming a lot, getting sleepy in class and having a real hard time focusing. Well I failed 3rd grade and went back for a second year. Over the next few years my attention problem got worse but so did a behavior problem. By 6th grade I was put in a division of our school district for emotionaly troubled kids. I guess that didn't do enough good becasue by 8th grade I was sent to family court and shipped off to a group home 45 miles away. I attended a special education high school and graduated w/ honors. I eventually tried to go to college but I could not focus and also was trying to balance a freaky work/home/school schedule. At this point everyone still thought my problems were behavior related. Over the next 10 years I had trouble keeping a job for more than 6 months or a year at a time. About 2 years ago I saw a commercial for Paxil on TV took their on-line questionare which told me that I had issues with anxiety so I decided to go talk to a shrink who said I was depress (like that was anything new they had been saying that since my dad died) I was not keen on talking to a shrink or therapist but I gave it a try and the shrink put me on Celexa and it kinda helped for a while but since I had no insurance I could only get whatever free samples the clinic had available. They quit getting Celexa and got Lexapro instead. The Shrink gave me that to try and I tried it for a while but less than 1 month into it my boyfriend and I noticed that I was more emotionaly distressed and frightened while on it. I told the shrink to find something else so he gave me Effexor XR and that seemed to help some. I eventually saw an add on TV for Strattera and asked my shrink about it. He first said he didn't think my problems had anything to do with learning. 2 months later he gave in and gave me samples and I tried them and they worked good. Today wich is about 2 years later I feel like the Strattera is helping but I think the Effexor XR hampers the work that Strattera does but w/o Effexor I become a real nasty person.
That's my life in a nutshell. Sorry if it is to long but I had to get it out.
One more thing, my boyfriend understand my problems to a point but he still thinks that I am lazy. When he is around I don't get much done but when he is out of the house I can get a lot done. I frequently forget to take my meds and go on emotional and mental rollercoasters. He has been kind though by sticking with me through all of my garbage I have put him through for the past 3 years and continue to put him through. I very much love him and don't want him to leave my life but he has clearly expressed that I need to grow up and be a responsible adult or he will move on in his life. He says he has given me 3 years of chances to get my act together but I continue to fall back on my old ways. I don't want him to go but I have not figured out how to move on from where I am with my depression and ADD. He thinks that the solution to my problems it to stop re-playing the old tapes, so to speak. To let go of the past and let the Lord guide me on from there. He thinks that the Lord is my solution but I am not sure if that is true. I have never really been much of a religious person and I am scared to move away from the emotional and mental security blanket I have lived in for most of my life. I have been trying to stay a 6 year old for 23 years now. If I can get off of the Effexor I think I could do much better. I think it makes me more depressed than I should be. I could sleep for 24 hours straight for almost a week if given the opportunity.i have suffered from depression and almost unrelenting suicidal thoughts since i was a young teen too. i'm 41 now and have in the last 8 mos. or so been trying to treat the add with medicine. i have had really serious depression lately despite the wellbutrin which i am certain is helping with symptoms from both add & depression.
i think the depression is mostly from life circumstances. i also believe that a lifetime of depression may predispose my brain chemistry to depression (the condition, not the mood).
i pretty much had to diagnose the add by myself. i took every screener test i could find. i read several books and articles. i got lots of reassurance and understanding from messge boards like these.
after suffering my whole life from moods and other difficulties which i could never understand, i finally found on the message boards stories and examples from this community of those diagnosed with add that were my story.
and even though lots of things we have a hard time with are things all people struggle with, it is different when you can see it interfering with your life in negative ways. the question "do you feel that this is affecting you negatively?" is an important one.
non-adders really can't imagine how hard so many basic things are for us. as i read on another post, they usually react with a comment to the effect of "just do it. just be different." or "i think everybody has a hard time keeping up with everything they have to do." and there are always the responses which despite the words and "friendly" advice they like to offer, they are really saying "the only reason you can't function normally is that you are just lazy and immature."
which brings me back to the depression. i know, and just about everybody exposed to me that is aware enough to recognize intelligence knows, i am remarkably intelligent. Despite that, i am a terrific failure. i have never been able to achieve much of anything despite being sharper and smarter than average. (before i continue, i would like to state that i am not a person that has ever had the type of personality or feelings that i was superior/others are inferior. i am not the kind, as the old saying goes, to toot my own horn.)
even though i have lots of potential, i have always performed inconsistently my entire life. i'm sure you have observed others that are pretty much the same person, same abilities, same temperment,from day to day. they can expect to always perform in their jobs, relationships pretty reliably. they can make promises and keep them. they are able to schedule and keep it. they know and can predict pretty well how they will perform at any task they undertake, and how much time will be needed. they are able to settle in to a life comfortably, and they "know" who they are. they are somewhat more calm, and organized, and stressed when real stressful events are occurring. even the world seems a little more predictable to them.(though i am not saying they aren't acknowledging of the fact that life is somewhat uncertain, period.) they are more comfortable with the future, more certain that it will be a mostly steady ride.
that's not me. the only way in which i am consistent, is in being inconsistent. i have trouble in maintaining my level of interest in anything. my moods change a lot during the day, mostly because of the frustration i feel at being "all over the place", trying to figure things out that are simple, but my brain won't let me stay with it. being unable to read and retain what i need to unless i am reading under the right circumstances and conditions. having impulses to leave even in the middle of something. the forgetting of hugely important details. even in typing this today i have to keep correcting mistakes. thinking i hit letters, but seeing i have not, or have reversed, or omitted, or added letters. time is always running out. i can never seem to complete tasks in the right time frame, even when i am working very hard, as quickly as i can and on a good day for paying attention. the clock always moves faster than i do. i am always late, and on those rare occasions when i am on time, i feel like i have earned the gold medal. some days i can be extremely good at what i'm doing. i can impress just about anyone. but those moments are few and far between because i can't be consistent. when i have my focus i do great. it's just that i can't consistently perform like that. i can't do it the same way twice and the harder i try to reproduce my successes, the more likely i am to fail. i am hesitant to make plans because i am afraid i will "not be in the mood" when it comes around, or i may be experiencing my "symptoms" and not much fun to be around.
i have trouble as far back as i can remember, i have always had more worries than the average kid. my mind gets stuck on things, especially the more i need to be present and mindful of the tasks at hand. i have always been easy feel frustrated. ever heard a kid complaining or upset about "i can't do it! i'm trying and i can't do it!) that 's me. i grow angry very quickly with people and tasks. people because they are "slow", and "stupid", and "just don't get it!". it is easy for me to become argumentative very quickly. situations go from polite and nice, to me getting fired-up about this or that, and my energy seems to cause people to feel defensive and threatened by my intensity. my mouth, my hands, my body, reality just can't keep up with my brain. the more i need to get something done, generally the greater my aversion to it, no matter what it is or how important i know it to be.
so, i have not been able to keep and hold jobs. and defintely not profesional office type jobs where schedules and meetings and interactions are the main process. i work in construction, and frequently solo. it's not easy to stay one place when i try, let alone if i can't play well with others. i have discovered over and over(after the fact) that many people have been uncomfortable with my differentness. i don't come off as a team player. just can't do it.
relationships, esp. w/ women are more difficult for me than others i know. i am highly sensitive to other peoples reactions, but strangely just can't percieve how people are reacting to me. i've missed a hundred of chances to hook up because i could not register what the interaction was when a women was showing interest in me. other times i just feel myself "switching off" when talking to people and close down romantic opportunities because it happens when i am meeting a woman. add to that i don't like clubs and most social functions because i feel so overstimulated, i can't wait to get out. not a very good impression to give when playing the mating game.
so here i am coming up on 42. i'm smart and good looking, and funny. i'm aware and compassionate, and creative. i'm a terrific failure by most measures.
i don't own a home, and may never. i don't do well with money. i have no savings, and i'm very short of work. i am kind of starting over from the bottom, again.
i have not been able to maintain interest and focus in any one area, and have not gone far in the work world, and have a very limited earning potential because of my experience, and my trouble with social skills.
i have not been able to establish a romantic relationship since my divorce almost ten years ago. i can't get it together enough to really feel like i can function in those types of relationships. it's hard to maintain self-esteem enough to even be interested. it feels like more effort than i can put out. i am overwhelmed enough just trying to be a responsible adult, emphasis on the "trying".
i am uncertain about my future. can't seem to even make a plan and i am definitely uncertain about my abilities to follow through if i could. i also have a past to deal with, further compromising my will.
so- depressed? you bet. i don't see how add'ers don't suffer more depression.
sorry- i didn't realise how much i wrote.
Yes I think depression and ADD go hand in hand. I'm not really a depressed person, but I am very anxious and my anxiety causes me to get so stressed or upset about something that I'll cry. Instead of yelling or whatever, I just get very emotional but only for like 20 to 30 minutes and then I usually bounce back up again. My fiance thinks that I just have a very anxious personality too like I think. I heard depression will last like for a longer period of time. I read the symptoms and really do not experience any of those. I am a moody person unfortunately at times, but I'm not "depressed", just anxious. My anxiety and ADD are definitely linked together I think. I just am sick of being anxious. I get very anxious over silly things. I have social anxiety too which doesn't help my already anxious personality. Lately I Think I've been doing better. I take anxiety medicine along with concerta. But I do struggle sometimes still. Anyway, for those of you who are anxious, it's the worst feeling isnt it? I'll get nervous and wonder why my stomach is in knots sometimes and I'll get knots in my stomach when I have to go do something that "scares" me. I can't let my fears get in the way of my life though. That is another thing I'm working on!
I believe its related but indirectly due to not being able to keep up with normal people. The constant frustrations to fit in and being ostracized don't help much either.My therapist has suggested that I have dep and anxiety as a result of living with undiagnosed adhd for 33 years. Since my diagnosis a few months ago I've noticed a pretty significant drop in it. I pretty much only feel depressed when my adhd symptoms are giving me massive trouble.[QUOTE=pluckyduck123]I am an adult who has symptoms of Depression & Adult ADD. I think that they may be related but I wold really like to hear from others so I can get a better sense of how others feel about these 2 illness.[/QUOTE]