How untreated ADHD can trap you in depression

And building yourself back out of depression once treatment starts isn't an overnight thing

I was diagnosed like 3 months ago at 29

It's a night and day difference but it's still a bit rough at times

But I'm working on it and now that I'm able to stay focused on a task it's easier than before, but it's not easy

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If you don’t mind me asking, as a stranger, did you start meds? My partner was recently diagnosed at 28, and started meds, but I’m not sure how well they’re working.

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- I did start meds but I've noticed that the key factor in how well they work is how I spend the first hour of my day.
  
  If I open YouTube or social media the day is a wash.
  
  If I start the day making breakfast listening to music with the idea of doing things that day, it goes great.
  
  One thing that really helps me go with the second option is having a tab already open from the day before that has a playlist I can just start. And it's the only one open.
  
  I was diagnosed with Inattentive ADHD so my experience may be different than someone diagnosed with Hyperactive ADHD.
  
  Also be sure that they're doing more than just meds, education about various ways of managing ADHD in conjunction with meds will lead to far better outcomes than those things separately.
  
  Or maybe the meds don't work for them and they need to try something different. One of my friends tried 3 different meds before they landed on one that worked.
  
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Do I have untreated ADHD? I hate this.

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You are voluntarily here and finding common ground with an ADHD meme. If you've felt like there's something different about you and have been waiting for a Sign, this is it.

Just keep an open mind, since a lot of different things can cause ADHD like symptoms. "I actually don't have ADHD" is also important information, and a good psychiatrist or therapist can help guide you to wherever the truth lies.

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I've had a feeling that I might have it for a while but idk what to do. It seems like there's probably not a sureshot way to know I have it? And if I don't, it'll always feel like an excuse to other people.

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- This is literally the diagnostic criteria: https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf
  
  Have a go and see if the questions resonate
  
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- Talk to your doctor and/or psychiatrist and they can't test and diagnose. Even being diagnosed, I still often feel like I'm just making excuses when something stems from my ADHD, but it's important to remember that it's not fair to yourself to downplay your own challenges. Acknowledging the challenges you face, and their affects on your life is not making excuses. It's being honest with yourself about what you experience.
  
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Autistic and ADHD, meds helped but the side effects were awful for me, so I'm just a mess.

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I feel like I have untreated ADHD, but at this point I have no idea how exactly to get the proper help and sometimes I am too afraid to ask. What should I be looking out for in finding treatment?

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What's called 'untreated adhd' in this image is in fact just normal personality traits that most people experience.

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- Just like everyone gets sad but not everyone gets depressed, everyone experiences ADHD symptoms but only some have ADHD. It is about the frequency and severity of the impact on your life.
  
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- Everybody pees, but if you're doing it 80 times a day there's probably an issue.
  
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Yup. Also applies if you're diagnosed but having to rawdog all of it because your body can't tolerate either ADHD meds or antidepressants. So you're stuck trying to kludge together solutions with behavioral, cognitive and lifestyle changes and it's like trying to build a sand castle with powdered sugar. Maybe you can make something stick together a bit, but one big sneeze and it's all gone.

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What've been the most helpful changes you've made? I know it all depends on the person, but I'm interested.

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- My phone has been a lifesaver for remembering things. I grew up in the days of paper planners, so it's a real treat to be able to set up reminders etc. Prior to that I used lists and post-it notes. Post-it notes are tricky because if you use them a lot they become part of the scenery, so getting an assortment and changing to a different color note helped me to notice them.
  
  For developing habits, instead of "do it for 30 days and it'll stick" (lmao) I try to shoot for progressively more consistency over time. So when getting back in the habit of flossing, every day was overwhelming but I could do once per week which was better than nothing. Then every other day. Now I do it daily. Does this work with everything? No but when it works it works. In other words don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Some > none.
  
  Mindfulness is not a cure-all but it is a good building block. I practiced just being present and noticing my thoughts. Noticing thoughts allowed me to start observing my train of thought to see where exactly it derails and keeps me from getting things done. If I can figure out where I'm getting distracted I can create workarounds for those. Sometimes I have to literally make a diagram of the thought pattern, like a flowchart, to see what's happening.
  
  I also made a list of my main goals in life including the pedestrian ones like eating healthier and doing creative things, and posted a thing on my fridge to help remember to do something towards those goals every day that I feel up to it. That cuts down on the amount of time I spend in neutral gear wondering what to do with my time. If I don't know wtf else to do then at least I can do something small that will advance a life goal.
  
  The last thing I'll say is give yourself some grace. Nobody has their shit together. Some people just fake it better. Reward yourself whenever you make progress and go out of your way to point out to yourself when you accomplished something or successfully used a cognitive tool. That voice in your head that says you're dumb and can't do anything? It's a jerk, don't listen to it. Go out of your way to rub your successes in its face.
  
  That's all I got, hope it helped.
  
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I love how this is almost laid out like a chart. Each row is a different category of things to work on as somebody with ADHD. The left half is what to try to do and the right half is what not to do. All we can do is keep trying.

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The always end up being to much hits hard AF.

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Increasingly in my life, I've found this to manifest as an intolerance of frustration. Need a tool that's not at hand? That project's never getting finished. Anyone have methods for coping with this?

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I try to be myself with my excitement but it ends up overwhelming people

Damn. Too real.

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I feel this to my soul. And for the longest time I didn't know it was ADHD. I just thought I was a lazy piece of shit.

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People don't understand that beating yourself up is still a shot of dopamine. Drama, including drama limited to your head... It's still dopamine.

Depression, sure, but the constant negatives that come with adhd is still a steady dopamine IV drip.

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And after 40+ years of suffering in get diagnosed, and medicated, and now all the meds are backordered... Back to my old ways

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Wait based on this list I am depressed, any more symptoms?

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If you think you might be depressed, it’s best to look for a psychiatrist who can make an assessment. I’m providing this info for educational purposes only, please don’t diagnose yourself.

To be officially diagnosed with depression, you’d need to have at least five of the following symptoms for at least 2 weeks, and at least one of the boldened symptoms needs to be present:

Depressed mood

Loss of interest/pleasure in almost all activities

Significant weight loss or gain without dieting or significant decreases or increases in appetite.

Sleeping too much or too little nearly every day.

Moving too much or too little nearly every day in a way that’s noticeable to other people.

Feeling fatigued and devoid of energy nearly every day.

Feeling worthless or inappropriately guilty nearly every day.

Having brain fog and indecisiveness.

And, finally, having thoughts of suicide.

More goes into the diagnosis (like for example ruling out medical conditions and substance use), so once again, please don't just diagnose yourself based on this list.
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Depression is honestly no joke, but help is out there and people care. That aside i googled my symptoms and now i have several serious diseases.

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I havent been diagnosed but im sure i have it. Getting a diagnosis is a pain in the ass in austin. That being said i think i have gotten better at recognizing when i am in an abnormal state like depression. My mind starts getting cloudy or darker and feel it get heavier. If that makes any sense

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I went to my primary care doctor about it, and I matched every attention/stress criteria on their sheet, but I dodn't have anger issues so they said I didn't have ADHD. Yet every time I see a post like this it matches exactly. It's weird to say I think I have ADHD when a doctor has told me I don't have it... But I still think I have it, it just matches too well.

So I guess welcome to the undiagnosed gang, good to have you

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