By an ADDNet UK Reporter. Dr. Goldstein is a psychologist working in the Neurology, Learning and Behaviour Centre in Salt Lake City, Utah. He is the author of several books and guides for parents and teachers on child development, attention problems and brain injury. If their parents are depressed or if they have parents with bi-polar disorder the risk increases.
Depression is episodic, and ranges on a continuum from mild to severe.
These symptoms affect both behaviour and emotion. There is a biological difference in each of us, and some of us are more resilliant than others. Thus when ADHD is diagnosed, it is important to consider the possibility of co-existing depression. Causes are also suspected to include living with a depressed parent, a parent's lack of availability, and the modelling of depressed behaviours by depressed parents. Children also learn helplessness, leading them to view their lives as uncontrollable and beyond their capabilities.