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Home › Expert Q&A › Health and Safety › What illnesses can accompany attention deficit disorder and how are they treated?

Expert Q&A

 

By Lisa Lees
Twin Expert

My daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder last summer and I would like to know if other illnesses can go hand-in-hand with ADD. She has depressed moods, low self-esteem, and is easily aggravated. When we talk to her about homework habits, tardiness and other necessary changes, she just tells us she already knows and we do not need to keep telling her, but then nothing changes. She is at an age where she wants responsibilities, but we don't see her taking them... At times she feels like she wishes she was dead... I found her journal and she writes in it how she feels different than other people, and how she feel like a square peg trying to fit into a circle... she had told her dad that one night she went in and took some Tylenol PMs to hopefully die... I don't know which part is just being a teen and which part is ADD.

Yes, other mental health concerns can occur along with attention deficit disorder. From the information you have provided, it sounds as though your daughter may also be experiencing depression.

Common symptoms of depression in adolescence include sad moods, lethargy, lack of interest in activities, fatigue, changes in sleep and eating patterns, irritability, feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and, of course, suicidal thinking.

You have identified that your daughter is experiencing a number of these symptoms. What differentiates "typical adolescence" from clinical depression is the number of symptoms present, the enduring nature of the symptoms and that the symptoms don't seem to go away on their own. The main concern I have is that your daughter has expressed suicidal thinking and has acted on those thoughts by taking the Tylenol PMs. Granted, she may not have made a serious attempt, however, these are thoughts and actions that need to be taken seriously.

You said that your daughter was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, but didn't say whether or not she was receiving medication, therapy or both to treat the disorder. If she was formally diagnosed, then she should have or should be receiving treatment. In that case, speak to her therapist or physician about the depressive symptoms you have recognized. If she is not currently in treatment, I would strongly encourage you to seek treatment for her. Her homework, tardiness and other behavioral problems may actually be a manifestation of the depression as well as the attention deficit, rather than problems in and of themselves.

She may say she doesn't want to go to therapy, however, she is asking for help through her actions. I would make getting appropriate treatment the priority and put the behavioral problems on the back burner until you have a clear understanding of what your daughter is going through and what she will need to get better.

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