Is It Depression or ADHD?
Is it Depression? Is it ADHD? Is it both?
Some people who get diagnosed with ADHD do so because they’ve been undergoing therapy and antidepressant medication for Depression or Dysthymia (chronic low level depression, a condition that is very often missed) for years with little improvement. They finally start asking about ADHD and see someone that is actually trained in diagnosing and treating ADHD (unfortunately, far too few medical professionals), get a diagnosis of ADHD.
Then they start managing their ADHD by ADHD medication, adult ADHD coaching or therapy, exercise, lifestyle changes, greater self awareness and participation in Adult ADD support groups, and the grey fog of depression starts to lift.
Eventually there’s no more depression, just ADHD.
If you look at the symptoms of ADHD and you don’t find some way to manage them relatively effectively, its not to hard to see that they can easily lead to other conditions like Depression, Dysthmia or Anxiety Disorders.
I personally know 3 women with ADHD who underwent therapy for depression for a decade and even suggested to their therapist that they might have ADHD and that possibility was quickly dismissed. Later they found someone that understood ADHD, got diagnosed and sought help and now are no longer depressed. I’ve unfortunately heard and read far too many other similar stories.
You could also think you might have ADHD and it’s just depression or dysthmia since some of the symptoms are similar.
You could have ADHD and experience a divorce, death in the family, lose your job and develop depression from those events, unrelated to ADHD.
This is why a good diagnosis by a professional that understand ADHD and Depression is crucial. You don’t want to waste years of your life because you’re treating a secondary symptom of the problem and not the root cause
You are SO RIGHT. I am so tired of struggling in my life, and I bounce to and fro doctors and related government officials about how to help me! I may even have two or three things to be diagnosed with, but the lack of education/help about ADD and other disorders in BC is very shocking and heart breaking… I’m now 26 and my life has been going no where for a while, and my parents are worried, and I’m just miserable…. I suffer a silent torment every day, that I can’t do anything right, I can’t even focus on any one thing and get it completed. I can’t find success or happiness in ANY form. Some of these government workers will tell me “well it doesn’t look like you’re depressed”, and one of them - I kid you not - was matching my ADD symptoms to what looked like an OLD book on disorders. It seemed to focus on only the Hyperactive type, but I don’t have hyperactivity…. But MANY OTHER symptoms…
All I want is the right help. I don’t believe in suicide, yet I notice how many times the pain becomes unbearable and my life feels meaningless. I know there will be enough challenges in treating my symptoms anyway, but getting diagnosed is a huge search on its own that SOMEHOW I must first accomplish.
To be fair, I haven’t really done my fair amount of search online either, and now I’m going to take it seriously, and that’s how I found this page today. So thank you VERY much for your information. I am going to strive to search for any help I can get (and contact you further), because frankly, I’m not sure how much more I can take of this. I really truely wish there would be more plentiful people certified to diagnose and treat less common disabilities here. Every person suffering from a condition should NOT have to, and its really surprising in a country like Canada.
Comment by Nadine K August 18, 2007 @
Hi Nadine, I hope you get a chance to read this E-mail, pleasr do not think you are doomed and that you can not find help.from someone who for years thought that I was so different from other people that I must be crazy. I finally realized that my ADD was such a part of my make-up, that I had to deal with that reality, but there was help out there. My theripist uderstood how my lack of self worth and depression were related to my condition.When I could control my work environement and my social settings I did OK. but when I had to be accountable for my time and production it all went haywire. Through therapy and mood control meds, I am doing better,and so can you. I am not telling you it will be easy or fast,but it can be done and you can feel more comfortable in your own skin.If you feel like a round peg in a square hole, welcome to the club. Take care and find help. Bruce
Comment by B. Goldhagen August 19, 2007 @
You’re right Nadine, there should be more people able to help ADDers.
If enough people demand services from their MLA this will change. If they don’t it probably won’t. Unfortunately people with other health conditions ask for services and get them (to a certain extent), ADDers usually don’t bother asking and consequently they don’t get them.
you might want to also contact the 24 hour crisis line
http://www.crisiscentre.bc.ca/
and information referral services
http://www2.vpl.vancouver.bc.ca/DBs/RedBook/htmlPgs/home.html
I have a list of people known to diagnose and treat ADD in vancouver, email me if you want the list.
good luck
Comment by Pete Quily August 21, 2007 @
Hello Pete,
I have just found this site, I have been praying to find just what you wrote. I have been struggling with this all my life I believe. I’ve been in therapy for years with no real improvement in the areas I am reading about that those with ADD suffer from . I am now under a plie of projects , so cluttered and having to buy five of all my tools that get lost in other peoples homes that it finally came to my attention. LOL… that I might have whats called ADD,
I think the therapists think my lack of focus is because Im depressed or from anziety. Im so tired just thinking about this.
I mean every day I go to work and some tool I didn’t even know i left will be placed in eyesight by one of my clients. Guess I could pull them into a therapy session for confirmation of my disorder.Maybe THEN I’ll be believed. I guess I could take a photo of the inside of my apartment and that might convince them. I live alone so know one sees how i am.( thank goodness}
My parents died many years ago so i have no way to ask them how I was . I have some select memories that point to adhd.
I expressed my concerns to a therapist last fall and asked to be tested, The woman that tested me said the tests showed I did not have the childhood form of adhd. Thats as far as I got .I got very upset because I know this is what I have, They keep focusing on things i had treatment for in the past and say i have a personality disorder instead. Im so frutrated.
I really need to talk with others to find out if what Im experiencing is what others are. I have questions like one is ,
1. Do you find yourself repeating yourself in speech and writting
The only support group in my state is run by a therapist for his patients only .
The other meets every third thursday of the month and I have to travel an hour to get there, I’m looking foward to that meeting in October.
This site Pete is the first help I have found that looks hopeful , Thank you in advance of my reading it all.
Patricia
Comment by patricia September 24, 2007 @
I recently got tested for adhd and was devistated with the results. I could garuntee they would come back positive! Well they came back with a high chance of add, however the tester stated that because of my history with depression I would have to see a phyciatrist for further testing! Not the answer I wanted to hear! I’ve been to several different types of therapies over the last 12 years, different doctors (none of whom could speak english… should they not have to pass an oral test to work in this country?) So now I’m on a wait list to see another phyciatrist (who’ll hopefully speak english) and due to the patient doctor load in my province i’ll be waiting a while! I’m tired of waiting I want this over and done with so I can move on with my life. This has kept me from living for so many years. Its held me back for so long, I’ve known for years that its not depression that I suffer from its something bigger! It wasn’t till my son got diagnosed with ADHD that my mother said to me hey maybe you have it! I started looking into it and here I am!
This article has been an eye opener! I frimly believe that the symptoms of derpession that I have experienced have been due to the ADD (I’m not hyperactive)! Looking back into my high school years I’m certain that this is what’s wrong with me! Doctors really need to be more educated on adult add and adhd its not just a condition that effects kids!
Comment by Sarah March 6, 2008 @