Adderall for Depression

There are several side effects of Adderall, and depression can be one of them. However, for people who were taking a long-acting version of the medication, depression was not reported as a common side effect in short-term studies. Based on this data, it is difficult to say how often depression will occur as a side effect of Adderall. Interestingly, one off-label use of the drug is to treat symptoms of depression.

 

Adderall and Depression: An Introduction

There are several possible side effects of Adderall® (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine) or Adderall XR® (amphetamine-dextroamphetamine extended release). Depression is one of the side effects reported in clinical studies. Oddly enough, Adderall is also sometimes used to help treat depression.
 

Is Depression an Adderall Side Effect?

Before medicines are approved, they must go through several clinical studies in which thousands of people are given a particular medicine and are then compared to a group of people not given the medicine. In these studies, side effects are always documented. As a result, it is possible to see which side effects occur, how often they appear, and how they compare to the group not taking the medicine. Side effects are then usually separated into those that occur in more than 1 percent of people (common) and those that occur in less than 1 percent of people (rare).
 
For people taking Adderall, depression was a reported side effect, although the specific frequency was not reported. Depression was not reported as a common side effect in short-term studies of Adderall XR; however, about 1 percent of children stopped taking the medicine because of depression symptoms. Based on this data, it is difficult to say how common it is for people taking the drug to experience depression.
 
(Adderall for Depression Continued: Page 2)
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;