Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression commonly occur together. According to Ari Tuckman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist who specializes in ADHD and wrote the book More Attention, Less Deficit: Successful Strategies for Adults with ADHD: “ADHD makes people’s lives harder, so it makes sense that they have more to be depressed about. This is especially true because ADHD difficulties usually persist — it’s not like going through a bad break-up where things get better with time.”
Because ADHD is lifelong, it “robs the person of optimism that things will ever improve, at least before a diagnosis is made and treatment started.”
Below, Tuckman talks about both disorders, which is treated first and what readers can do.
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I have been Diagnosed with Depression for about 5 years now. I recently was Diagnosed with ADD/ADHD maybe 4 months ago. My Dr. has recently been focused on treating the ADD/ADHD but I just can’t seem to get out of this “hole” I’m taking Cymbalta, Deplin 15mg, Vyvanse 30mg twice daily, Ritalin 40mg in afternoon evening and Nuvigil. I feel like a freak of nature. My Dr doesn’t even prescribe the Riatlin or Nuvigil, I take them without his knowledge. I have also been seeing a therapist to work out the emotional side of things but I really don’t see an end in sight. I don’t feel suicidal but almost wish I did just so that it would all end….
Tammy i know it is hard i am 14 and was diagnoised with clinical depression and adhd at the age of around 8-9 i know it is a struggel but as long as there is one person that me ending my life would affect like my brother i know i have to be there for him and without a dad and my mom becomeing an alcholic i can not give up on them my life has not been easy i omost got beat up every day through out elementary schoolnot just by 1 person by 5-10 people at one point even up to 18 people but i have kept trying and i plan to keep trying my 5-7 pills a day i have been taking help sometimes but i am 14 and if you are not going to keep trying for damn god sure i shouldent be but i dont know whats going on in your life so i cant tell for sure but just rember if 1 single person would be affected by your suicide it would not be far to yourself or them a teen that cares jonathan
I think it’s really important to mention, when ADHD and depression are mentioned together, that a primary sleep disorder can be the driving factor for both. Given the large number of undiagnosed cases of sleep apnea in the United States, this needs to be on every clinician and therapist’s radar. A patient with a treatable sleep disorder will exhibit symptoms of both, and by treating the sleep disorder both the ADHD and the depression can, in some cases, be put into remission, and so it is very important not to miss this possibility.
I have recently been diagnosed with anxiety/depression but I suspect there’s more to it. I have always been pretty positive and happy but my life has consisted of being disorganised, distracted, and have always felt misunderstood. I was quite smart as a child but never took it anywhere as I just never really focussed. I’m an adult now and realise all that I’ve missed out on by never really completing anything. This depresses me
I agree with Dr. Brockwell’s comment. Lack of sleep can be a major contributor to depression and exacerbating ADHD symptoms. I would not go as far as saying that the ADHD can be put into remission but sleep will definitely help reduce symptoms. I was first treated for depression/mild anxiety with Lexapro but came to realize later that I actually had undiagnosed ADHD. Years later when I was diagnosed with ADHD and treated with Adderall I found that I no longer needed the Lexapro. Sleep has continued to be an issue for me but I find that I sleep better now that my ADHD is being treated. I still take Trazadone to help me fall asleep (at least slow down my mind) and stay asleep for longer.
In the UK I’m pretty sure there are thousands of people with a diagnosis of depression who actually have ADHD – it’s so hard to get a diagnosis here, and if you go to the doctors saying “I can’t cope” they instantly seem to assume it’s depression, even if you carefully explain all of your obviously ADHD related symptoms. It’s even more depressing knowing you have a treatable problem but being totally incapable of getting the help that you need! ADHD is very poorly recognised by GPs in this country and even if you are lucky enough to have a GP who is willing to refer you there aren’t make people actually qualified or experienced enough to make a diagnosis in adults.
In Response to your post, my feeling as I have recently been diganosed with ADHD is that your GP as mine in the past my be quick to diagnose depression? anxiety but if that is not the entire cause of your unwellness you have to seek further.I have been treated for depression for many years( ten or more) and have felt down so much at times it has been incapacitating. I have also been ultra productive in parts of my life as an artist and entrapeneur. I have had so many failures and unable to keep a job over the past five years and even studied in university and have 2 degrees.After a number of hardships, my coping was unable to keep going I had so many losses which I thought were due to bad decisions, I practically ended up on the street if it were not for my parents who took me in for five weeks ( at age 46) until I could get a place to live.I few days after I moved into my new place, I decided to seek help ( other than family ) I went to the emergency dept of the mental health cenrte here and sat and waited and waited. I feared that they may keep me in but that was the chance I had to take. No they did not take me in, I was able to go home after an assessment ( two nurses and a doctor of psychiatry) and I was referred to a psychiatrist who helped me. I was diagnosed with ADHD about two months ago and am trying concerta.I have been taken off Prozac and not sure what”s going on inside me but am feeling encouraged that things will get better. I just wanted to share my story and give you hope that there is help if you sit on its front doorstep long enough, keep knocking and you will get an answer.I hope this helps.
as research has shown that very young babies can carry out a basic conversation – little more than seemingly uncoordinated lip and face movements – in response to the gentle murmurings of the mother is it possible to hypothesize that ADHD is really caused by parents who stick their babies in front of a television that endlessly yacks at them without allowing breaks for the child to make an answering conversation?
It seems logical that just as adults get angry and refuse to concentrate on what they see or hear as uninteresting or patronising rubbish then the hapless baby stuck in front of the telly may also try to blank out the inanities and thereby become ADHD.
Mothers shoudl be told to keep their babies away from fast paced jabbering television and instead talk to them in short sentences adn allow the child to answer back even though it may be a year old before its answer starts shaping into recognisable words.
I am 17 years old and was recently diagnosed with ADHD, and was finally treated for my depression that had been on and off for over 3 years. Growing up with on and off depression, my ADHD went unnoticed for 17 years. A doctor at the LA county mental hospital prescribed me Wellbutrin. It’s an anti-depression that treats ADHD. After 6 weeks of taking Wellbutrin, I noticed some very positive results; I was energetic and focused. Feelings of self-pity and suicide went away. I was able to think clearly and have a focused plan each and every day (which was something I had a lot of problems with growing up). Wellbutrin has helped me turn my whole life around! Even though it did great things, I did have some trouble in my recovery. I experienced two very drastic mood swings (and I emphasize drastic). I went from going about my normal day to uncontrollable and unconsollable tears, with no plausable cause. The episodes lasted about thirty minutes and left no lasting affect on the rest of my day. Overall, I have found Wellbutrin to be very helpful and hope to be off of it within the next year.
Interesting stuff.I have Bipolar I with Psychotic Features(just a few times in the last 27 years) & it may be controversial to give Ritalin to me-some think it can make me psychotic or induce mania but it hasn’t.Much later in life in my 40′s I was diagnosed with ADHD by a psychiatrist who has ADD himself & that’s when he put me on Ritalin(I take Depakote,Zyprexa & Klonopin,too)Prior to that I tried many other antidepressants:tricyclics & SSRI’s with intolerable adverse reactions-MAOI’s were pretty good but my diet is so restricted already.I don’t get any perceptable adverse reactions from Ritalin except the desireable one of a little drowsiness which helps me sleep.That doctor said my chronic insomnia even as far back as early childhood was due to undiagnosed ADHD.So my Rx’s for Ritalin had on them -ADHD/depression & it is truly effective for both.I believe it’s the neurochemical action on the inhibition of the reuptake of dopamine(a feel good neurotransmitter)that treats the depression as well as the ADHD but does anyone know the mechanism of how dopamine treats ADHD,yet? Morgana
I’ve been struggling with depression for the past 40 years. For most of this period I swung between “severely depressed” and “moderately depresssed”, with few periods that were depression-free.
Last year after a bout of depression that virtually incapcitated me I have a full psych eval, and was diagnosed as having ADHD. I was given a prescription for dexamphetamine, and it changed my life.
Within weeks the constant cloud had lifted, and I felt a sense of clarity that was all too rare. It wasn’t a magic cure, and I am still susceptible to depression. But the constant feelings of depression are gone, and I feel more positive and empowered than before.
Im 55 yrs old, was diagnosed with ADD at 35, but I suspect Ive suffered with depression most of my life, sometimes worse than others. I also have sleep problems. Right now I have to get retested so as to have documentation for college, because apparently they think I might not have it anymore. Considering I dont have insurance, I have to find some way to pay for it. Also, where I live, the clinic I would have to go to wont prescribe Ritalyn, which is the only thing that really works.
It all gets so discouraging, Ive been in college for quite awhile, and fail some classes, others I need more time, but teachers dont want to give me “special treatment” without documentation of the ADD, and I wonder if I should just quit.