Q&A with Aya

That's why I'm diagnosed trazodone. It works well for sleep but the withdrawal or effects of forgetting to take it are really bad.

 

Depression can cause many of the same cognitive difficulties as ADHD, particularly in the realms of executive function and memory. It sounds to me as if your primary difficulties are related to executive function, so it's possible that the depression is the root of them. If you aren't taking medication for depression, I might consider it, and if you are taking meds, they might not be doing all that they could do for you.

I have never heard of depression or stress causing false negatives in ADHD testing, but that's an obscure enough question that I'm not sure it would have been studied. Intuitively, I would think that depression may be more likely to cause false positives, but psychology often runs counter to our intuition.

It's still possible that you have ADHD. No test is infalliable. I will note that the test section you self-scored very low on was specifically measuring impulsivity and hyperactivity. There are two major types of ADHD, hyperactive and inattentive, and often people will fall distinctively on one set or the other. If you do have ADHD, it's likely to be the inattentive type. Which is underdiagnosed and more common in AFAB people.

I would say that you probably have some kind of issue with executive function. I would tend toward guessing it's a result of the depression rather than stemming from ADHD given what you have reported about your test results, but I'm not a professional and I haven't seen the fine details. Don't beat yourself up and go "I'm just highly creative" though.

 

Huh, ok. Thanks.

Honestly, what you're saying makes a lot more sense than what they went with, because I basically got a lecture about the fact that I don't find a lot of other people's things interesting, and I resent being forced to pretend that I do.

If people aren't interested in what I'm interested in, that's cool, but I like it when people tell me. (And, you know, MidWest Polite, people will nod and smile and pretend they care sooo).

Looking at the test results that came in today, apparently I also have some issues with abstract & complex thought, which is starting to make me wonder if

a. yes, depression has not ever really not been a thing, I've wandered back and forth since I was a kid between kind of flat, mellow, and "cry in the shower" depressed. And at some point I would like to try meds, but I don't really have a current therapist/etc, and I'm moving a lot in the next few years. (and I would like to contemplate pairing meds with therapy)

and b. if possibly autism could be a thing.

I do kind of feel like I keep going "oh it could be this" and then getting stuck on it, and then jumping to the next thing. but really, I've always known I've been depressed, and I've always had issues along these lines.
still, I do feel like a big cyberchondriac about this. :P

Thanks again, though.