There is such joy in being able to hear patients say that “My life is really good Doc, I’m getting A’ and B’s in college now, my parents and I are getting along well and I actually got a part time job and my life is pretty great!”.  Those are the things that make my job worthwhile as psychologist who specializes in ADHD.

All of this because we were able to see what so many previous psychiatrists had failed to notice.  Instead of just looking at the depression and anxiety that were on the surface, we did a comprehensive evaluation and found out that this young man was struggling with Inattentive ADHD.  He was depressed because of all of the things he just couldn’t seem to accomplish in his life.  He was anxious only because he felt something was different about him, and he thought he would never get ahead in his life.  It was hard for me to remember that this was the same person who only a few short months ago was shy, uncertain,  and was really struggling to be successful.  Now thanks to medication, a little ADHD therapy, and a few coaching sessions with his parents, his feelings of discouragement and hopelessness were now nothing more than distant memories.

He, like so many other of our ADHD clients, is excelling in his college courses, noting that for the first time he could actually focus in and comprehend what his professors were lecturing about.

Now, instead of anger and resentment at home, he and his parents talk about the miracle of what this treatment has done to bring peace and cooperation to the family, good grades in college, and most of all he is confident and motivated to be the person he had always wanted to be.

Depression and medical/physical illness may occur together for different reasons: medical disorders may contribute biologically to depression; ill people may become depressed as a psychological reaction to the prognosis of the illness, pain and incapacity caused by the illness; or the two illnesses may be unrelated. Depressive symptoms may also develop as a side effect of medication.  It is important to discuss all aspects of your symptoms with your doctor so that an accurate diagnosis can be made.

Most people don’t realize that even two weeks of depression (what ever the reason) begins to change the physical aspects of a person’s cellular structure.  The longer one remains depressed, the longer the treatment will take for the cellular structure to return to its former state.

Treatment of co-occurring depression can have a positive effect on the course of the medical illness, particularly when it improves a person’s ability to manage chronic illness such as diabetes and heart disease.  In addition, treatment can significantly enhance an individual’s quality of life.