ADD and SAD - ADD / ADHD Message Board

slide · 08-25-2008, 08:13 AM

Is it possible to have both ADD and SAD? I'm a 24 year old male. I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder about 3 years ago, in truth I've had it for probably more like 10 but I finally got the courage up to go the doctor about it. Unfortunately the medicine that I was put on had bad side effects and so now I'm not on any medication. I was brought to the doctor about ADD when I was younger but the doctor more so just looked at me and because I was sitting still and focused, which was mostly because I was terrified about the doctor, diagnosed me as not having ADD. I still feel I have many of the symptoms associated with ADD. Its hard for me to put how I feel in words but I've looked at a lot of the ADD questionnaires and they say I'm highly likely to have ADD. <On one questionaire> I scored a 94. I'm also really nervous about asking the doctor about ADD. I really feel I have it, but I've heard that doctors are suspicious when asking about ADD and if he says I don't have it then I'm not sure what else to do.

addprogrammer · 08-25-2008, 08:23 PM

slide,

It is possible to have ADHD and SAD. Furthermore, ADHD can cause SAD.

Post your ADHD symptoms. The practice could very well enable you to talk with to a doctor about it.

Were you a space cadet in school? Did you have problems doing homework? Has concentration always been a struggle? If not, when are you able to concentrate? How have your symptoms adversely affected your life?

Ask yourself questions like those above and write down your answers. You need not post your answers if that makes you feel uncomfortable. I suggest you do, though, because we can help you refine a convincing symptom report that any good doctor will respect.

Bob

index.html · 08-25-2008, 08:55 PM

Yes, it's definitely possible to have both. In fact, it's quite common to have other co-existing conditions with ADD.

I like Bob's suggestion to list your ADD symptoms (either here or on your own). As he said, that will help you in "presenting your case" to the doc. Personally, I think most docs would be open to your exploring the possibility of ADD. It's when people go in asking for a med (especially when people ask for a specific med), that they get suspicious.

Welcome.

slide · 08-26-2008, 09:26 AM

Ok it's hard for me to get my feelings down on paper but I'll try to explain it as best I can.

When I was in elementary school I got mostly good grades in the normal subjects but always got really bad grades for behavior. Finally (I'm not sure why) they placed me in the Gifted and Talented program which was just about 7 students. I don't think my behavior got any better but at least I was getting more personalized attention.

In my 6th grade year I remember a very life changing event, though at the time I didn't consciously think anything of it. An older boy at school committed suicide. My friends and I didn't really know him that well so after a couple of weeks the gloomy spirit of the school for us began to let up. One day on the bus ride home we were being our normal obnoxious selves, especially to this older girl who the bus driver put in charge of keeping us under control. The next morning when I got to the bus stop my best friend told me that she had committed suicide as well. He then looked me dead in the eye and said 'You killed her'.

I can distinctly remember before that day being able to 'be myself' and afterward I can't remember a single day when I could. I found out later that the girl and boy had formed a pact, where if one committed suicide the other one would as well but the damage to me had already been done.

School got even more difficult for me and I went through a very rebellious time and almost failed a lot of my classes in middle school and finally my parents took me to a center for trouble teens but just to scare me. I guess it worked because I didn't act out much after that.

In high school I mostly kept to myself and my sister and cousin but never really connected with anyone. I never studied because I would get frustrated so I got out of the gifted program and into the 'normal' classes. My high school was one in which a lot of the trouble makers in town would get bussed to and so my classes were not difficult at all for me. I could get by fine with ok grades. By my senior year I had gotten some friends, but I felt like I wasn't like everyone else so they weren't deep friendships. To fit in more with them and away from the delinquents in my classes I rejoined the gifted classes and did well, even though I still never studied. I found that I could just listen in class and remember most everything to get by, although at times that failed horribly.

College was pretty easy at first as the freshman/sophomore general education classes didn't require too much out of class studying. I got mostly B/C's with the occasional A's. For my primary degree it was a little more tough and most of the time me and my friends would stay up all night previous to a test/homework drinking energy drinks to stay awake to memorize the material for the next day. I managed to graduate (barely).

In January I started a new job in a new city. So for the past 9 months I've had to face a lot of my SAD symptoms head on. For the most part I'm managing but I still have no friends and I try to drive home almost every 2/3 weeks. It's very hard for me to complete my work and I find myself not even trying because then I will be given more responsibility which will frustrate me even more and make my anxiety worse as well.

Outside of work I want to work on lots of projects. I have so many things I want to complete in my life but every time I sit down to work on them I get either bored or frustrated when it gets even a little difficult and I have to go do something else, most of the time I play Xbox but that only holds my attention for a little bit too. If I could only concentrate and not be frustrated I feel my life would be so much better. It’s effected my work, social life and my interests and I really don't want to live with it anymore!

addprogrammer · 08-27-2008, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slide

I never studied because I would get frustrated so I got out of the gifted program and into the 'normal' classes.

Outside of work I want to work on lots of projects. I have so many things I want to complete in my life but every time I sit down to work on them I get either bored or frustrated when it gets even a little difficult and I have to go do something else, most of the time I play Xbox but that only holds my attention for a little bit too. If I could only concentrate and not be frustrated I feel my life would be so much better. It’s effected my work, social life and my interests and I really don't want to live with it anymore!

slide,

In my layman not a medical professional opinion but from the standpoint of someone who has lived with ADHD for 56 years, the probability is very high, say, 98%, that you have ADHD. It is also my opinion that another disorder, most likely SAD is along for the ride. The probability is 100% that your placement in gifted was no mistake. That is where you belong. ADHD pulled you out.

You list mostly the secondary effect, "frustration," in your description. Frustration can come from lot of causes one of which is the work is too difficult, beyond our inherent capabilites. But it your case, I'm sure that is not the case.

The doctor that concluded you can't be ADHD because you "looked" focused only reinforces my firmly held opinion that most GP's are STUPID IDIOTS because they try to diagnose complex mental disorders instead of giving a referal. If that doctor was a shrink, that reinforces my firmly held opinion that a significant percentage of shrinks are dumber than dumb GP's. I'm not off on a rant, so let's go to relevancy.

If you take your case to someone not qualified, you're dead in the water before you even get into the office. So find a qualified doctor or a psychologist that has the training and the experience. Otherwise you'll get some bozo who can't see past the symptoms and get at the cause.

Being able to do gifted in grammar school but not in high school and successfully graduating college (even though just barely) are the ADHD factor give aways. The balance of your description gives good clues on the co-existing disorder. Don't edit a thing. You could print it out, take it with you, give it to the doctor to read. As long as you don't pick a bozo, the doctor will immediately understand why you gave him a written rather than a verbal description.

Your initial post gave me the impression that ADD less the H might be the problem. Let's stick the "H" back in. I suspect the secondary disorder is suppressing the hyperactivity symptom. I have a similar situation.

Bob