Today's tip about bettering your ADHD Baseline has to do with comorbid conditions. Because having ADHD often isn't enough (insert sarcasm), it often has a sidekick commonly called anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, addiction or depression. This sidekick will show up uninvited to the party. When that happens, it can be difficult to figure out who is the true culprit of that day's shenanigans.
Let's take a closer look at the sidekick named depression and how it may get confused with it's partner in crime ADHD. A few things to consider:
- ADHD and depression can look like the same thing
- It has been estimated that between 50-90% of people with ADHD will be treated for depression at some point in their lives
““People with ADHD have a higher risk of depression due to the stress it causes and the challenges they face. Up to 70 percent of all people with ADHD will experience symptoms of depression at some time.””
Google defines Depression as feelings of severe despondency and dejection. A daily feeling that is associated with it is sadness.
Today's tip is something to help when you're feeling down and well, just simply sad. It is something you may not have considered. It is something that I heard on a podcast last week. The podcast may be of interest to you too, it's called The Hilarious World of Depression.
Back to the tip, during the podcast Daniel Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain On Music, was quoted as saying:
“sad music actually can help you feel better, if you distract yourself with it. The reason is that when we’re feeling unhappy and depressed, we often feel misunderstood and the last thing you want is to listen to some rousing happy music because that’s just yet another person who doesn’t understand how you’re feeling.”
The quick tip from this is when you're feeling blue, listen to a sad song. See if it works for you. A few of my favorites are: Back to Black-Amy Winehouse, Say Something-A Great Big World, Stay With Me-Sam Smith, Tears In Heaven-Eric Clapton and I Want To Know What Love Is-Foreigner. I'd love to hear which sad, sad songs help you feel better when the chips are down. Leave them in the comments below.
