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Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#161

Post by FollowingTheDao »

citilife wrote: post #154
Djvacto wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started medication as an adult, lived in a home with two involved & present parents, never saw any doctor about ADHD until I was an adult, and was never an unhappy child. Looking back, I clearly had ADHD, but since it's a condition that's unique and specific symptoms vary per person, I just happened to have mechanisms that worked and got lucky with how my brain patterns fit into school from Elementary - High School…

One way I try to explain it to people: "We give people insulin because they have diabetes. Diabetes is the disease, but you can cure it through diet and exercise for Type 2 (it's environmental), Type 1 you cannot (it's genetic). Insulin treats the disease, but doesn't cure it" Why is it not the same for ADHD or depression? Type 1 is genetic and Type 2 is environmental. The argument I was attempting to make is differe…

Your analogy fails because type one diabetes also has an causal environmental component:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5571740/

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#162

Post by luckydata »

CodeMage wrote: post #130
TrevorJ wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two things can be true at the same time. Some kids truly do have a disorder that benefits from medication. Some kids are prescribed medication they don't need simply so they are able to do something that no child should reasonable be expect to do: sit in a chair and listen to people talk at them for 8+ hours a day. One truth does not preclude the other.

That's true. And it's also true that ADHD is overdiagnosed and overtreated, and the rate is non-negligible. That is a problem that both the public and the medical community are aware of. I agree with maintaining awareness of that, but I strongly disagree with going to the extremes and stigmatizing ADHD medication and everyone involved. Look at the comment I objected to. Does it read like a rational, polite way to mai…

who told you it's over-diagnosed?

Science generally agrees ADHD is under-diagnosed. Read the statement of consensus. There's some sort of moral panic cause the beautiful souls of a bunch of people can't fathom stimulants can be used for medical purposes cause "all drugs are bad and Concerta is essentially meth" which is absolute BS.

There's no need to spew hearsay and lies when you know next to nothing about a medical condition that affects 5% of the population.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#163

Post by sph »

tjridesbikes wrote: post #135

Anecdata, but I've been on methylphenidate (Concerta) since age 7, and holy cow has it impacted my life in an insanely positive way. 21 years later, I'm still on Concerta, but excelling in my career, spending meaningful time with friends, family, and hobbies, and generally pretty happy with myself. When I tried dropping the meds in college, my life basically fell apart in a matter of months. My then-girlfriend now-wi…

Same. I've had a low-grade depression for all my adult life, which has worsened in the past 5 years.

I got diagnosed with ADHD 5 months ago, started medication 2 months ago, and last week I told my therapist I'm pretty sure my life-long depression is in remission. There's a definite feeling that my life is now in a slight upwards trajectory, even on the worst of days.

Life tends to become pretty sad when you have no control over your executive function and action.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#164

Post by [deleted] »

lettergram wrote: post #117
Djvacto wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Youth with ADD/ADHD engaged in screen time with an average of 149.1 min/weekday and 59% had a TV in their bedroom. Adjusting for child and family characteristics, having a TV in the bedroom was associated with 25 minute higher daily screen time (95% CI: 12.8–37.4 min/day). A bedroom TV was associated with 32% higher odds of engaging in screen time for over 2 h/day (OR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.0–1.7). This does not imply ca…

> Medicated or not. They just have better support and lifestyle habits that minimize how much it might impact them. If a disease can be resolved through changes in lifestyle is it a disease needing medication? I think that is kind of the point, is it not? We can give the kids anti-depressants for being depressed or we can help them change their lifestyles. We can give the kids ADHD drugs or we can change their lifest…

[deleted]

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#165

Post by luckydata »

memish wrote: post #89
CodeMage wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more horrifying to me that HN has turned into a kind of place where people will confidently assert their judgment something they have no knowledge about. My son has ADHD. There are other ADHD cases in the family, so we knew that could be the case with him, but we waited until he was in middle school to even try to check, because we didn't want him to "depend on drugs", as the trope goes. We got the diagnosis fro…

Glasses are not drugs. That's not at all equivalent. These drugs are altering brain chemistry and one's natural state so they fit into the unnatural environment that is school. It's horrifying to me that people are doing mental gymnastics to defend drugging kids who don't want to sit at a desk for hours every day memorizing useless information. If I was a kid today I'd fit the qualifications and be drugged to better…

that's bs.

ADHD affects your natural ability to make decisions and control your emotions. Has all kinds of health repercussions from overeating to unnecessary risk taking to difficult relationships with others.

Please stop talking about stuff you don't know like you actually have any knowledge of it, and spend the time you save by reading some science:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S014976342...

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#166

Post by TrevorJ »

Avamander wrote: post #153
TrevorJ wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Ritalin is a schedule V medication precisely because of the reasons I mentioned. 2. Five minutes of research online shows that my experience is not uncommon. Hell, reading the warning label from the pharmaceutical manufacturer is sufficient to make my point. 3. I am very pro-medication when it comes to treating ADHD, but I also believe many people are not sufficiently educated on the potential consequences of thes…

> Ritalin is a schedule V medication precisely because of the reasons I mentioned. Doesn't make it okay to call it "legal cocaine". > Five minutes of research online shows that my experience is not uncommon. Hell, reading the warning label from the pharmaceutical manufacturer is sufficient to make my point. Obviously it's documented, but it doesn't make your point. As I already said, it's a thing that happens in the…

I did not call it legal cocaine, though I did compare the two, and I stand by that statement. Ritalin's mechanism for action is extremely similar to cocaine - it even competes for the same binding sites on neurons.

It's still a very useful therapeutic, and I strongly believe it should not be stigmatized. But parents absolutely do need to be educated about the sort of prescription drug this is.

I liken this somewhat to the use of opioids for pain control after surgery: they are a fantastic tool that I would certainly not want to forego. But I am grateful that we've become more intentional about educating people on some of the specific dangers around their use so that patients can be more aware. I'd like to see the same thing happen around the use of strong stimulants in children.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#167

Post by adastra22 »

Djvacto wrote: post #52
citilife wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was actually going to point that out. IMO from what I've seen of parents are that people who bring their children at a young-ish age to a therapist have a different issue. Especially "being to hyper" or "being unable to focus" have a different issue. Children are supposed to be outside moving 8-12 hours a day, have you seen puppies? They need something similar. Instead many parents give their children tablets, plop…

I started medication as an adult, lived in a home with two involved & present parents, never saw any doctor about ADHD until I was an adult, and was never an unhappy child. Looking back, I clearly had ADHD, but since it's a condition that's unique and specific symptoms vary per person, I just happened to have mechanisms that worked and got lucky with how my brain patterns fit into school from Elementary - High School…

My situation mirrors yours pretty closely. I didn't recognize the symptoms or seek treatment until my mid-30's, but looking back I clearly had ADHD symptoms that became serious around high school.

In my case, my grades plummeted and I was unable to get into the colleges I wanted, or to graduate from an engineering program like I had wanted. I ended up graduating with a degree after 7 years and bouncing between 4 different colleges, and I've had a decently good career in Silicon Valley where being a generalist is a solid plus. But my dreams of being a (literal) astronaut were flushed down the toilet in the process.

Kids shouldn't have to sacrifice their dreams or their self-esteem because parents are unwilling or unable to seek proper treatment.

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#169

Post by FollowingTheDao »

sph wrote: post #163
tjridesbikes wrote: post #135

Anecdata, but I've been on methylphenidate (Concerta) since age 7, and holy cow has it impacted my life in an insanely positive way. 21 years later, I'm still on Concerta, but excelling in my career, spending meaningful time with friends, family, and hobbies, and generally pretty happy with myself. When I tried dropping the meds in college, my life basically fell apart in a matter of months. My then-girlfriend now-wi…

Same. I've had a low-grade depression for all my adult life, which has worsened in the past 5 years. I got diagnosed with ADHD 5 months ago, started medication 2 months ago, and last week I told my therapist I'm pretty sure my life-long depression is in remission. There's a definite feeling that my life is now in a slight upwards trajectory, even on the worst of days. Life tends to become pretty sad when you have no…

Why is it so strange that an amphetamine would get rid of depression?

Re: Association between ADHD medication and depression: A 10-year follow-up

#170

Post by EricE »

lettergram wrote: post #109
Djvacto wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started medication as an adult, lived in a home with two involved & present parents, never saw any doctor about ADHD until I was an adult, and was never an unhappy child. Looking back, I clearly had ADHD, but since it's a condition that's unique and specific symptoms vary per person, I just happened to have mechanisms that worked and got lucky with how my brain patterns fit into school from Elementary - High School…

As you pointed out ADHD is a disease, what’s the cause? Do you have adhd, or do the drugs help you focus and you want that? Calling it a disease implies something is wrong, but having trouble focusing isn’t “wrong”. It’s a skill one can acquire and may have a variety of factors impacting it (from genetics to environment to mental management). That’s the issue I personally take with these kind of discussions. Medicati…

ADHD is not a disease; our brains are just wired differently. The upsides of ADHD - hyperfocus, strategic planning, ability to readily correlate otherwise unrelated things all contributed to who I am and my success. The drugs help even out the downsides to ADHD.
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