ADHD/ADD and anxiety disorders?

[estarsign]

Earlier this week when I saw my therapist I told her I felt like my mood was still unstable and that I possibly have an anxiety problem in addition to ADD. She agreed. Not sure how I feel about that

Comments

[taiba]

I do have anxiety, but I'm pretty sure most of it comes from external influences and from the difficulties of undiagnosed ADHD.

I feel fine at the moment, but I'll see how I go with school.

[estarsign]

External influences how? Like tests in school or things like this?

[taiba]

Yeah, that sort of thing. I get very stressed about work and very stressed about some disagreements in my family. But when none of those things are being a problem, I'm usually fairly ok.

[estarsign]

Those are the sort of things I get really anxious about as well, but I feel like my ability to handle the anxiety sucks. I like obsess about the things that are my stressors to the point where I can't fall asleep or I wake myself up dreaming about them.

[contrary_wise]

I totally know what you mean. With the help of my ADD coach, I've figured out that the anxiety is related to ADD hyper-focus. It's like I get fixated by my feelings and I can't think about anything else. It's gotten a billion times better with the combination of small doses of Ritalin and finally getting on a good anti-depressant. Now I get what people mean when they say to just think about something else when you're really upset. I literally could NOT distract myself before. Now I feel like I have some measure of control over it and I feel a billion times more stable, even when things upset me.

[taiba]

This.

I'm already finding that the ritalin makes me VERY calm and better able to handle stress. I just don't freak out any more, even about things that would have had me spinning before. I can just get on with what I'm doing, rather than worrying.

Most amazing thing ever.

[estarsign]

I take Adderall IR 10mg 2x a day, and I also take 2.5mg before bed as needed (it helps me sleep because I stop obsessing about things).

What does the antidepressant do for you? I mean, are you taking it for depression or does it help with the anxiety?

[taiba]

Antidepressants treat anxiety as well as depression. What they do is, essentially, stabilise your mood.

[estarsign]

I didn't realize this. I guess I thought there was a separate set of medication for anxiety. I will have to keep that in mind as I work on the anxiety issue.