Hi All
My b/f has suspected ADD (no diagnosis yet), and was put on Amitriptyline last year, after reporting his rages etc to the doctor. At that time we thought it was a regular depression type illness he had.
Assuming it is ADD he has, should he be taking Amitriptyline? Is it ever used to treat ADD? He thinks the med has stopped working anyway, so he needs a change from it, but to what we're not really sure!
Zero
Zero,
You know..I meant to mention this to you before, but rages are not one of the typical symptoms of AD/HD. They ARE symptoms of a number of other disorders, including BPD - Borderline Personality Disorder. In the UK they have a slightly different way of diagnosing this:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders
World Health Organization, Geneva, 1992
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
F60.3 Emotionally Unstable (Borderline) Personality Disorder
A personality disorder in which there is a marked tendency to act impulsively without consideration of the consequences, together with affective instability. The ability to plan ahead may be minimal, and outbursts of intense anger may often lead to violence or "behavioural explosions"; these are easily precipitated when impulsive acts are criticized or thwarted by others. Two variants of this personality disorder are specified, and both share this general theme of impulsiveness and lack of self-control.
Impulsive type:
The predominant characteristics are emotional instability and lack of impulse control. Outbursts of violence or threatening behaviour are common, particularly in response to criticism by others.
Includes:
* explosive and aggressive personality (disorder)
Excludes:
* dissocial personality disorder
Borderline type:
Several of the characteristics of emotional instability are present; in addition, the patient's own self-image, aims, and internal preferences (including sexual) are often unclear or disturbed. There are usually chronic feelings of emptiness. A liability to become involved in intense and unstable relationships may cause repeated emotional crises and may be associated with excessive efforts to avoid abandonment and a series of suicidal threats or acts of self-harm (although these may occur without obvious precipitants).
Includes:
* borderline personality (disorder)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Personality Disorders
A personality disorder is a severe disturbance in the characterological constitution and behavioural tendencies of the individual, usually involving several areas of the personality, and nearly always associated with considerable personal and social disruption. Personality disorder tends to appear in late childhood or adolescence and continues to be manifest into adulthood. It is therefore unlikely that the diagnosis of personality disorder will be appropriate before the age of 16 or 17 years. General diagnostic guidelines applying to all personality disorders are presented below; supplementary descriptions are provided with each of the subtypes.
Diagnostic Guidelines
Conditions not directly attributable to gross brain damage or disease, or to another psychiatric disorder, meeting the following criteria:
(a) markedly dysharmonious attitudes and behaviour, involving usually several areas of functioning, e.g. affectivity, arousal, impulse control, ways of perceiving and thinking, and style of relating to others;
(b) the abnormal behaviour pattern is enduring, of long standing, and not limited to episodes of mental illness;
(c) the abnormal behaviour pattern is pervasive and clearly maladaptive to a broad range of personal and social situations;
(d) the above manifestations always appear during childhood or adolescence and continue into adulthood;
(e) the disorder leads to considerable personal distress but this may only become apparent late in its course;
(f) the disorder is usually, but not invariably, associated with significant problems in occupational and social performance.
For different cultures it may be necessary to develop specific sets of criteria with regard to social norms, rules and obligations. For diagnosing most of the subtypes listed below, clear evidence is usually required of the presence of at least three of the traits or behaviours given in the clinical description.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ICD-10 copyright © 1992 by World Health Organization.
Now...there IS an online test that he can take, but its for a small fee, and the results are reviewed by a doctor. I would feel more comfortable with your boyfriend getting re-evaluated by his own doctor. Should you want to look at the online testing, its available at http://www.mytherapy.com/ This is in no way an endorsement or recommendation, but provided to you for informational purposes only.
I beg to differ about rages not being part of AD/HD especially in somebody who has gone undiagnosed into ADDulthood.
Years and years of frustration and not being understood can contribute to outburts.
Research suggests that 85% of people with AD/HD are prone having rages or outbursts with very little provocation.
(from Dr Amen's Book Healing ADD)
I'm not saying there isn't something else going on besides ADD.
Let me clarify my response then. Rages are not one of the typical symptoms that are used in determining if someone has AD/HD (as currently defined in the DSM IV). That is NOT to say that people with AD/HD do not have rages (myself included). My suggestion was to also look at other disorders that involved rages as a predominant diagnostic symptom, such as BPD.
I'm glad you pointed out the rage link to AD/HD though, as I didn't realize the percentage occurance was that high.