I have a daughter, age 20, who has both ADHD and depression. It's really not easy watching a child suffer but try to be patient. You seem to be doing the right things but progress is slow and hard to see on a day to day basis. Looking back I can see all the changes that happened and are still happening, not on my time schedule but on hers. My hardest lesson to learn was patience.

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Thank you. Your words helped me today. I needed to hear that.

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yes, it's called a "co-morbid" disorder. My brother (age 15) is depressed with ADHD too (all 3 of us have it; he is the only one who is depressed). He manages it with antidepressants.

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When my ADHD-diagnosed son was 11 he was diagnosed as being depressed as well. He was in a very difficult situation at school where he felt the extremes between being left out or being singled out. We moved him to a school that specializes in smaller classes and children who have special needs. Now he feels like he fits in and has a very supportive school staff. This school is great because it makes the transition to middle school easier and less abrupt for him. Before you put your son on another medication, take a look around at his world and if changes can be made there.

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That sounds just like what is happening to my son. The guidence counselor keeps saying to me that he is trying to find his "place" in the world. Well he is so smart and so different from the other kids that he doesn't fit in. He gets bullied and ignored. He has one friend at school who is just as "odd" as he is. I cannot afoard a private school and I don't think we have a case to get the school to pay. he is in counseling and he goes to a regular social group that works on social skills. He has 3 friends there that all fit together, but they all go to different schools. I just keep wondering why this has to be. I have ADHD and have never felt like I fit in anywhere. I don't want my kids to have to feel this way. Thanks for all your advice. I appreciate it.

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I have an 11-year old daughter who was diagnosed with ADHD from about the age of 3. She has always had trouble "fitting in" at schol and to this day, we struggle with the "mean girls" and being left out of basically everything that a middle school girl should be experiencing. For one thing, her social skills are WAY behind what most of the girls at her school are and to top if off, she shares absolutely no interests with them such as television shows, music, books, etc. so that makes it even harder for her to make friends. I just took her to the doctor on Monday and she was prescribed Lexapro for anxiety/depression. This was a big shock to me because I never would've even thought she was suffering from depression since she's always had big high's and low's (pure drama queen!), but apparently that's the case. I'm not sure how I feel about giving her another pill, she's already on Vyvanse and Trazadone to sleep at night and it makes me very nervous. You are very lucky that you even have a place where your son can go and socialize with other ADHD kids his age, we don't have anything like that where I live. The programs are extremely limited unless you want to drive 30+ miles there and back and I can't afford that with these gas prices!

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I, too, have an 11 year old son with ADHD. He has not been diagnosed with depression, but only because of his extreme pleading to not go to his Psychologist. His medical doctor, I did require him to go see, altered his dosage of Straterra. That has really seemed to help. He complains of being tired all day, but not displaying the negative behaviors. I have another son who does not have ADHD, he too is 11 years, I noticed a change in his behavior as well during this past year and a half. But, when he realized the school and his parents would stick together, he must of decided to let go. He is doing great. I am always on the alert for depression with my youngest son, with ADHD. But I hope that some of this is a stage of adolescence. Until this year, we had him in private school, he begged to attend public school and we finally gave in. That was the beginning of the depression and I still toil with that decision. But, with the economy like it is, I don't know if we can go back.....

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My 10 yr old has been diagnosed w/ADHD and ODD since he was 4. We moved to a new school this year, and it has been tough for him to adjust. We just got him on an IEP to help him deal with his focus and behavioral issues. One thing that came out of the new evaluation is that he is depressed. He even admits that he's depressed. Putting him on an antidepressant on top of the Focalin and the Straterra just felt wrong to me. I feel like we have to handle this in a different way or we'll be endlessly ramping up to more and more severe drugs.

In my son's case, I feel like the depression could be a symptom of his ADHD and how his self-esteem has dropped rather than a co-morbid condition. (I have panic disorder and depression, so I'm pretty attuned to this.)

Now I have him on a combination of supplements including omega 3 oils for focus, b-complex vitamins for mood, and magnesium-calcium-zinc capsules for both. It has made a big difference in his attitude. He has a sense of humor again, and isn't as sensitive and reaction-prone as before. I also have put him into Aikido classes. Earning belts gives him steady accomplishments to work towards. I'm also more careful these days with how I treat his successes and failures by praising the effort rather than the accomplishment.

The more optimistic you can get your son to be, the less depressed he is likely to be.

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