Dr. John David Justice, M.D.

The best Antidepressant for ADHD is Wellbutrin XL as this helps both clinical Depression and ADHD. Strattera also has been found to help Major Depression and ADHD. Discuss with your physician Informed Consent on any Treatment option.

A person can get physiologically dependent on certain anxiety medications (for example, Xanax, Valium, klonopin). This is not a negative thing as long as you take the medications as prescribed by your clinician. The antidepressants that treat anxiety must be taken every day for benefit. When a clinician changes or stops them, they also taper the dose or directly change/switch with a new medication so the patient does not experience withdrawal symptoms. The key is most people with anxiety disorders do not receive necessary treatment. So, if medication is helping you and you take it as prescribed, then certainly continue the treatment.

Yes you can but expect the Doctor to take a thorough history first so you do not get just a “ bandaid “ on the problem and miss the real cause. An experienced and educated Doctor ( which you want ) will take a thorough history of your anxiety ( many types of anxiety exist and some can exist with other medical or psychiatric conditions that need treated). The Doctor will ask about other areas of your life and take a thorough medical history then depending on his findings may offer different treatment options. These may include therapy for anxiety, cutting back caffeine or other factors causing anxiety, making sure you don’t have one of many potential medical issues or prescription or non prescription substances causing anxiety. There are different medications for anxiety. One often used is called an SSRI which helps both anxiety and depression. Some of the sedatives for anxiety are used short term while the SSRI kicks in although not often used at first. It is important to tell your Doctor how the anxiety interferes with your functioning. When is it worse and better. What makes it worse and better. Be prepared with the answers. Why ( if you know) and when did it start? This will give both of you a goal to know when you are getting better and when you are back at your best before anxiety became an issue. This is key- you must have a way to monitor improvement usually by the functioning and happiness in your daily life that I assume decreased when the anxiety became problematic.
If your Doctor simply says yes here is a prescription then you can see all the areas of good medical diagnosis and practice above that was missed. In addition the sedative medications like Xanax, Valium , clonazepam often don’t work as well over continued time periods by themself, result in increased anxiety between doses over time, and can cause memory problems, apathy etcetera if not used as part of a full treatment plan for the anxiety condition. I hope this helps!

Yes, you should see a physician. Typically, a Family Practice Doctor first before a Psychiatrist. You will need to make sure you do not have any medical conditions causing or contributing to the depression. Important questions will be how is the depression effecting your functioning, have you been having thoughts of hurting yourself (or someone else), was there an event related to the start of your depression (does not have to be one). The Family Physician (or Psychiatrist Physician if the Family Practice doctor feels a referral is necessary) will then decide if the depression may respond to therapy, a medication trial or both. Other beneficial interventions for depression are regular exercise. Yes there are effective antidepressants. Medications that family members responded too are often a good choice. Some medications that help depression help also with insomnia while some help more with low energy and too much sleep. Some also help more with anxiety with the depression. All need to be taken every day and the full effect may not be seen for 4-6 weeks at the starting dose although you may start to feel better relatively quickly. For a 20 year old- Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa once a day are often good initial choices. Zoloft often with food to avoid Nausea.
So, yes, many good antidepressants but do not skip the medical workup for depression, exercise, therapy and other interventions should your Doctor suggest that plan. I would highly recommend seeing a Doctor after suffering for 4 months. This is treatable and is a medical condition.

It depends on several factors. What type of hallucInations? Do they interfere with the person’s functioning? If this is a new thing then first you have to make sure it is not due to substance use or a medical condition (certain seizures, brain tumors and other medical conditions). Schizophrenia tends to also be associated with functional decline and other related symptoms. Your friend should see a doctor even if it is just an urgent care at first for a medical check up and lab testing.