Diagnosis
Depression and ADHD – good ol’ Depression :) with the added “joy” of it having an environmental aspect.
Medication
I was originally put on Strattera for ADHD but it smoothed everything out: mood swings, attitude, sex life and even creativity - so much so that I found it hard to do my job properly because I just lost that edge. After being on it for almost two years I stopped taking it and now have learned how to manage myself.
Depression I learned how to manage without drugs.
Challenges
Focus and mood swings. A lot of folks depend on me and when I’m in the middle of an “attack” it becomes hard to be the person. My wife has learned how to adjust to the different phases of my depression and helps me through it all.
Strategies
Walks, lots of sun light and learning how to know when I’m at the start of a down turn so I can shorten the dip. You cannot ever stop having episodes, but you can learn how to mitigate the impact and work through them. I also have informed anyone who will listen what it looks like when I’m having an episode so they can make sure I don’t go completely silent.