Expert: Dr Billy Levin - 1/19/2004

Question
I just read the posting above and have a very similar question.  This turned out much longer than I expected, so please bear with me.  It helped to flush things out.

I had a bunch of bad stuff happen at once including getting laid-off and injury. About a year went by and I hadn't worked.  Things were pretty bad.  I was diagnosed with depression and prescribed Zoloft.  I was definitely depressed and I knew it.  The people around me helped get me to face it.  The Zoloft worked, and things improved in my life overall.  I quit drinking, lost 40 lbs to my fighting weight (athlete) and cut my cholestorol.  My doctor thought it was incredible.  And I thought I finally solved my problems.  I was depressed on and off over two year period in 1997-1999 and I never sought help.  Once the Zoloft started working, all I could do was wish I got help back then.  I also realized something.  One of my parents must have suffered from the same thing (deceased).  We shared some common traits including intelligence.  Things I saw and didn't understand as a teenager and a kid made perfect sense now.  

A few months ago, I decided when the timing was right, I'd wean myself off it Zoloft.  About the same time I started studying for a graduate school test.  I had taken the same test with little preparation back in 1997 and did very well with little effort.  I also had good grades and extracurriculars from a top ten college and two years in a tough business environment.  Things were different now.  The test changed somewhat, but I was working incredibly hard and making progress was tough.  I joked that not reading a book in the last five years could not have helped.  Weeks turned into months, etc. and I found myself wondering "what's wrong with me."  Sometimes I'd do well, but most of the time my mind felt like a frenzy.  I bought soundproof earplugs like they wear on the run-ways and went to great lengths to keep "distractions" away.  It's been incredibly frustrating.  But I'm always distracted while studying, by random thoughts popping into my head or movements or sounds.  I thought it might be the Zoloft so I weened myself off it over a 45 day period this past December.  January 1 was the last day I took any Zoloft.  No real changes.  And then I realized there must be another problem.  I talked to friend of friend about my problems not knowing he had ADD.  He didn't want me to know about his condition, but a week later he told our friend in common to tell me because he "had to" and that I should get checked out.  He said I sounded exactly like him.  Then I realized that this has been going on for a long time.  At least the last 5 years.  Trouble concentrating, confusion, etc.  I could list the symptoms and problems I've had in work and life, but I'd write a book.  Verbal communication is one area I've had problems with for a while - it's like I can't formulate my sentences because I'm too distracted.   Sometimes I get so frustrated, because I have thoughts and ideas and can't express them.  I started thinking (on my own) that maybe I was misdiagnosed, and although I was depressed, that ADD was the root-cause of the depression.  Partially because it was responsible for problems getting things done at work.  I took an Adult ADD Test and low-balled my responses, but I still scored above the highest range at 74 http://psychcentral.com/cgi-bin/add.cgi  I'm in the midst of studying and it was so bad today that I decided to do some research online . . . and then I read your response to "Female 31" and about fell out of my chair.

After all that, I guess my question is . . . reading all this, what do think?  Could Adult ADD be my real problem?  Could it have developed after age 24, causing my depression, and could the same thing have been involved with my parent - are there hereditary links.

Thanks for your help.

Answer
From what you have described I feel you could have ADHD, it is genetic and it not too late to see an expert who would confirm and  possibly treat. Non diagnosed ADHD does often cause depression only partly corrected by the usual antidepressents like Zoloft. However I would not suggest to a patient they make important decisions about the tapering of medication on their own ,without consulting the prescribing doctor.