Hello there.

Here are a couple questions, which are related.

Firstly - if anyone is an adult with ADD and depression, please share your experience.

My boyfriend has just been prescribed Concerta, after about a 10 minute interview with his psychiatrist, and this, since he was given the prescription about 3-4 days ago, has given me quite a cause for concern.

Firstly, he is depressed and suffers with anxiety, and Concerta is contraindicated for people who suffer these ailments, regardless if they are on an antidepressant or not.

The motivation behind the doctor's prescribing this medication is to see if my boyfriend can better focus while he is at work, and get work done, and feel motivated to go.

Here is the problem, from where I see it though - The lack of motivation seems to occur only BEFORE work - i.e. just when he wakes up, realises it's morning, and his immediate want is to call in sick for whatever reason. When he does go to work (and he usually does) - he DOES get his work done, and he does focus, and he does enjoy it.

I am encouraging him to get a second opinion from our family doctor, but I wanted to see if there are people out there who are suffering from depression and anxiety on top of their ADD, who have been prescribed Concerta.

He is currently also taking Effexor for his depression. He has tapered to a lower dose from a higher one, and it seems to be doing a really good job moderating his moods and keeping things on even keel. He hasn't really been complaining about loss of focus at all, really ever... He is excited about the Concerta being able to help him more with focus... but I think his doctor really isn't getting the whole story.

My boyfriend went to his 3rd appointment with the guy, and once again was confronted with a doctor who seemed to want him out of there rather quickly AS WELL as a student. My boyfriend is someone who needs help... and this is the 2nd time we have gone about trying to find it. He was referred for cognitive behaviour therapy and counselling - but this is all that the counselling has ammounted to - a few appointments where my boyfriend gives a history... but there hasn't been a lot of discussion about much else. The last appointment was spent discussing the Effexor, and tapering off it. I really felt like maybe they should have followed up on that at his last appointment, instead of handing out the Concerta.

Those are just my two cents though.
Am I too concerned??

(I have read different reports regarding contraindications... in some it suggests that people with depression and anxiety should kind of stay away from Concerta - but then in some, it says that it can help the ADD while not affecting it so much... it's hard to know what to believe... especially since the Psychiatrist really only said "it kinda works like Ritalin does" - which means nothing to us. My boyfriend felt pressured to keep his questions to a minimum, and thus, left unsatisfied.