Anyone with depression and ADD?

[FramazeledKepi]

I do! But, I believe that the depressive features come about mostly to the frustration of the ADD problems. I guess I fit into the DSM category Dysthymia. I really resent the idea that I would be clasified with Dysthymia----I do not have a depressive personality. My spirit, under the fog and mental slodginess, is quite whacky and delicious. Ultimately, I live as best I can and gladly maximize a good day. Luckily I have a good marriage and 2 well raised kids that I admire. Oh, one other thing. I had a neuropsych workup---I have a 25 point deficit b/t my verbal and performance score. It is called a "developmental processing disorder".
Whatever.........

[EchoHD]

I was diagnosed with depression many years ago....long before I was dxd ADD. But with the life that most ADDers live, depression is not unusual. With my Cylert and Effexor, I can maintain fairly well. Dont want to do without either of the meds, but must say that if I had to give up one, would be the Cylert. The depression is so overwhelming that it keeps me from functioning at all.

[Coral Rhedd]

ADD. BPD. SAD. Guess I just got lucky when it came to acronyms.

[exeter]

Originally Posted by FramazeledKepi

I do! But, I believe that the depressive features come about mostly to the frustration of the ADD problems. I guess I fit into the DSM category Dysthymia. I really resent the idea that I would be clasified with Dysthymia----I do not have a depressive personality. My spirit, under the fog and mental slodginess, is quite whacky and delicious. Ultimately, I live as best I can and gladly maximize a good day. Luckily I have a good marriage and 2 well raised kids that I admire. Oh, one other thing. I had a neuropsych workup---I have a 25 point deficit b/t my verbal and performance score. It is called a "developmental processing disorder".
Whatever.........

You should look into something called "nonverbal learning disorder." Generally the biggest sign that will show up on neuropsych tests is a VIQ/PIQ split of 10 points or more (although it's possible to have NLD without a split, it seems uncommon based on my experience on a couple NLD forums.) PM me if you want some links/resources about NLD.

Edit: BTW, my VIQ/PIQ split is 35 points. That's more than 2 standard deviations on the WAIS-III test... pretty significant.

[exeter]

Originally Posted by Coral Rhedd

ADD. BPD. SAD. Guess I just got lucky when it came to acronyms.

OMG WTF BBQ!!! Just kidding... Ok, it could be worse, there's always PTSD, OCD, etc, too.

[fp41]

Yea I have Both ADD and major Depression I was Dx with alittle over 10yrs ago have found it very hard to hold down any gainful employment since my disablity began....

[Coral Rhedd]

Originally Posted by exeter

OMG WTF BBQ!!! Just kidding... Ok, it could be worse, there's always PTSD, OCD, etc, too.

Sorry. I forgot to mention the PTSD.

[Trooper Keith]

As a heads up, we have forums for discussion of comorbid disorders, including depression, that you may want to check out.

[Coral Rhedd]

I know what you mean, fp41, about the employment problem. I think what makes it rough is if you have suffered a nervous breakdown. I know they don't call it a nervous breakdown anymore. At least, I don't think that is mentioned in the DSM, but by nervous breakdown I mean when you can't stop crying, you can't relate to anyone, and you think the best way out is out.

I suffered this in 2000 and I remember trying find someone who would take my dog so I could kill myself. I am probably alive today because I couldn't find a permanent home for the dog. My breakdown came when I went off Paxil cold turkey, my daughter graduated high school and moved away, and I moved in with a new housemate who physically assaulted me. All of this happened in three months time. It was too much.

Recovery has taken a long, long time. I have worked and am currently self-employed but it is really hard because after such a forcible disassembling of your self-esteem, you feel a little different from everyone. I felt marked -- as though everyone could see that there was something wrong with me.

[blueyemass1979]

What do they call "nervous breakdowns" nowadays? And what was it like?

I had one experience when I was about 15 or 16, I got so frustrated b/c I had tried incredibly hard one time to keep my mother from yelling and being mean and accusing me of causing problems, and yet she went off the handle worse than ever (now *she* was depressed, not that I think it's an excuse). I sobbed so hard I felt like I was a different person watching the world around me, couldn't stop crying, one of the only times I couldn't, couldn't speak, my sentences came out in fragments that were incoherent...it certainly felt like a "breakdown" even though it only lasted at the worst about 1/2 hour and then I could talk ok and stuff, even though I was still shaken. I guess it's not a nervous breakdown since I didn't have to be hospitalized or anything, I wasn't suicidal, and it was over so quick. It was a watershed moment; after that I gave up on trying to prevent my mother from acting like that. I was eating a Wendy's baked potato when it started and was looking at it for much of the time; since then I can't stand even to think of them.

[Coral Rhedd]

Hi Blue. I hope you don't mind if I shorten you name a little.

I am sorry to hear you had such a disturbing experience. It sounds like your Mom really lost it and this has had a serious impact on you. I wouldn't call that a nervous breakdown however. I wonder if what you suffered wasn't grief because this incident altered your relationship with your mother. Grief is all about loss, including the alteration of cherished relationships.

Psychologists use the term "decompensating" for what I experienced. This means that your usual coping mechanisms don't work for you anymore. Most people have ways -- good and bad -- for dealing with stress. What happened to me was that my ways of dealing with stress all failed me. My housemate attacked me. Money I had expected didn't come. I couldn't pay my share of the rent, which only made my housemate angrier. I needed to leave because she was really dangerous. I was really frightened not only because she turned out to be verbally and physically abusive but also because it turned out her expectations of our relationship was really different from what I had expected. She wanted a much more personal relationship than was willing to have with her. I had a slept in a room where the door didn't even latch, let alone lock. I was terrified.

Ironically, the local domestic violence shelter would take me in because my relationship with the housemate wasn't really defined as "domestic violence." I couldn't find an affordable place that would let me rent with my dog. It seemed I was losing everything. There is something called GAF (I think I have that right) that psychologists use to access one's support system. I had no support system and I had been depressed a long, long time from a series of griefs (and no doubt my genetic inheritance), so I just completely fell apart. I ended up in a transitional living center for mentally ill homeless people. It wasn't like being locked up but it wasn't freedom either. A friend took my dog in. Ironically, my dog had a home and I didn't.