what are people’s experience with depression and ADHD? seems like there’s some overlap, or maybe a tendency or likelihood for overlap. i ask mostly because that’s the only thing that any counselor ever paid attention to, in my experience. after dealing with (or not) 40 years of low level depression, maybe there’s also other stuff going on, but i don’t know. do you feel like it’s an integral component of your ADHD experience, does it come and go, do you not experience depression?
It is a common comorbidity. In many (most?) cases a result of how life goes with these features in that environment. No overlap like in ADHD overlaps ASD, it is more like ADHD people have an increased risk for lot of things (see above) which includes major depression, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, PTSD etc. In a subgroup of ADHD people an overlap with bipolar-(II)-disorder is discussed. But it is easy to tick those boxes with a common ADHD, connected life decisions, experience of exclusion and seasonal depression.
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Yeah, for me it’s more anxiety than depression. Diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder years ago, but never thought about ADHD…
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Yeah and me; general anxiety disorder, ptsd and depression are all co-morbidities I suffer with, they all stated when I was a teenager going into adulthood, but there was a lot of overlap and drug use making it hard to figure out what was causing what. My PTSD is more related to acts of physical abuse as a kid. But it took years for me to get the help I needed for I get this stuff figure out. Also. I was misdiagnosed as bipolar; which are made things even more complicated, and I was on some heavy meds that I shouldn’t of needed.
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As I remember the heavy meds they put you on really allowed me to slip into a depression. Mood changes were the first sign
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While this is obviously good advice, the comment you’re responding to isn’t specific to schizophrenia. I’ve known plenty of people to become addicted to weed, and to develop severe, in some cases debilitating anxiety disorders as a result, myself included. Many of these people have no family history of schizophrenia, and are not displaying symptoms that would be consistent with that anyway.
Quite simply, if you are using weed compulsively, morning til night, you need to know you have a problem, and that you’re putting your mental health at risk. Unfortunately, it seems weed has this cult-like rhetoric attached to it, which I guess is a response to all the reefer madness stuff etc. People insist it’s “not addictive” (misunderstanding of addiction in general), “literally has never killed anyone ever” (as if that is the only benchmark for harm), “doesn’t cause psychosis; only ‘triggers’ it in people with a family history of schizophrenia” (I’ve heard this one a lot. Doesn’t address acute onset of anxiety disorders, or psychotic episodes, or really any other mental health issues that can arise from saturating your brain with THC 24/7). And don’t even get me started on the “it’s natural” bullshit. Coke and heroin are natural.
The reality is that actually we need more research to be done into the actual effects of THC on the brain, and we need people to be better educated about what addiction actually is, and more mindful about mental health in general.
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Yeah, drugs are always a trade off. There’s no such thing as a perfectly safe drug, although weed is definitely safer than most. Still, it’s not like completely harmless despite what the popular rhetoric is. I’ve quit smoking because modern high THC strains were so intensive and intensified my anxiety a lot.
Look, I get the “cult” (RSO quackery and "it’s a plant not a drug"isms), but it not being physically addictive is a pertinent distinction.
To someone with an addictive personality, it can become a problem, alongside any other antipatterns a person may fall into.
It is not “scary”, it is and should be taken seriously as any psychoactive chemical.
Physical dependence pales in comparison to addiction as a mental health problem. Nobody is stealing off family members or living on the street just to stave off a few days of withdrawal.
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Mate you’re bang on about THC and peoples attitudes to weed, I abused the fuxk out of it at a young age, then my mental health issues starting manifesting and j started suffering from severe anxiety, depression and even psychosis from it. I literally can’t smoke it without freaking out and illl personally take ANY bad trip I’ve had on psychedelic over the mess of psychotic symptoms that weed can bring on, it can be terrifying. I’ve suffered a couple of drug induced episodes where I’ve ended up in a ward, I’d come out if it quickly and be out after 3 days usually, but most of the long term residents where teenagers who’d smoked too much skunk and rocky.
I know that millions of people use it, but it’s not this light and totally harmless thing people would have you believe m.
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It’s like alcohol though, isn’t it.
Nothing much wrong with a couple of beers now and again, but if you find yourself chasing super strength cider with 90% proof vodka with your lunch, you’re probably going to end up having problems.
If you smoke a little of the good old fashioned weed now and again, you’re not likely to end up in a ward. Smoking high THC super skunk though, is kind of asking for trouble.
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Agreed, and in general I’d say weed over alcohol anyday as long as it’s done with moderation. I’m the last person to be get morally superior, and despite it not being for me, weed needs to be legalised in the U.K.
Edit: the reason I say that is, it might stop kids getting ahold of it. I starting using drugs way too young, while my brain was developing and god knows what that’s done to me. Also my adhd was still very present when I smoked it, except proper good hash of which I will have a little zoot every now and then. Id also add, I think it might be a good replacement for opiate painkillers as they should only really be used in trauma or severe pain etc
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Nobody is robbing family and strangers for marijuana either, that’s a weird flex.
I can tell you from personal experience that is absolutely not true. Also, there are plenty of drugs that aren’t physically addictive that cause people to do that regularly. Shit, even addictions that aren’t drugs cause people to do that!
I think you really ought to verse yourself on the huge difference between addiction and physical dependence before you weigh in on stuff like this.
Yea the proper term is substance misuse disorder (another diagnosis I have officially, I’m starting to lose track)
I’ve done some shitty things in the throws of my addiction, I stole money off my parents, I robbed items and pawned them, j begged and borrowed off people with all manner of creative blags. I was never a thief or a liar before, and I’m not one now. But I was absolutely obsessed, and physical withdrawal is absolute awful, it can be managed if you get help. I lost so many friends, relationships every possession I ever had, down to my fucking furniture.
The thing is, people can be given opiates in hospital for weeks:months that are basically pure morphine, and just go home with no withdrawal symptoms, because they’ve no idea what the drug is or what addiction is, there is some incredible psychology going on there. It’s fascinating, my dad came off codeine after years of using it for pain, and was absolute fine he just thought he had a cold.
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I was diagnosed with ADHD as a young child. In my opinion, I was pretty lucky that I never had to take medicine against my behaviors. As a kid I was very creative and very good in arts and crafts but as I get older I feel like that my creative side is dying away from year to year.
Today it’s still pretty hard to focus on the daily things in life and I have to be very careful and disciplined to get all my tasks done logically. But I have the feeling that I manage my stuff pretty well nonetheless.
Overall I always appreciated technical stuff, so electronic music and synth DIY are just perfect hobbies for me. I feel more connected to music because of the technical than the creative aspects. So for my part hardware doesn’t need to be simple and easy to digest, I like deep and complicated gear.
PS: I’m sorry for the bad grammar…
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Also ketamine is not physically addictive, but I know 3 people who have colostomy bags form years of abuse
Addiction and physical addiction are two different things, that combine to become substance misuse disorder. Like I said earlier, I was both self medicating and behaving like an adult with adhd would typically present.
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Ketamine is a perfect example. Half my mates were pissing blood jelly at 17 years old.
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Yeah man, loads of my friends have ended up loosing parts or all of their bladder and so on. I knew a lad who got liquid k prescribed to try and slow down the damage before he lost his insides. Didn’t works he ended up on the smack, as did the other 2, as they couldn’t take k anymore.
It’s just crazy when you have some distance from it all. These where all middle class kids from good families, no awful childhoods or lack of access to money.
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