Why Your Depression Treatment
Isn't Working
If you've tried antidepressants without lasting improvement, the reason is likely a missing diagnosis.
The ADHD–Depression Connection
We analyzed outcome data across more than a thousand patients seeking treatment for depression.
treatment also have ADHD
Most have never been evaluated for ADHD.
Why this matters: When depression and ADHD are both present, antidepressants alone produce substantially worse outcomes than addressing the ADHD first.
This finding is consistent across every provider in our practice.
What Happens When ADHD Goes Untreated
We compared treatment approaches across hundreds of patients with both depression and ADHD.
Patients whose ADHD is treated first improve at nearly three times the rate.
This finding holds across every provider in our practice.
The anhedonia finding: Anhedonia, the inability to feel pleasure or motivation, is one of depression's hardest symptoms to treat.
Treating the ADHD component resolves anhedonia at three times the rate of antidepressants alone.
In many patients, what looks like a serotonin problem is actually a dopamine problem.
The "Treatment-Resistant" Trap
ADHD in adults often looks different from what people expect.
It can present without hyperactivity. In adults, ADHD often shows up as:
- Difficulty concentrating, but you assume it's depression
- Low motivation, but you assume it's a character flaw
- Emotional reactivity, but everyone calls it anxiety
- Chronic underperformance, but you blame yourself
Without an ADHD evaluation, the diagnosis lands on depression.
An antidepressant is prescribed. It doesn't work. A second is tried. Then a third.
After months or years of failed medication trials, the patient is labeled "treatment-resistant."
Our data tells a different story: most "treatment-resistant depression" isn't resistant. It was the wrong diagnosis.
Depression Isn't One Disease
Our outcome tracking has revealed something absent from the published psychiatric literature: depression is not a single condition.
Five distinct subtypes emerge from structured clinical assessment at intake.
They respond to different treatments.
doesn't match the subtype
is matched to the subtype
The same medication that produces an 85% response rate in one subtype can produce a 0% response rate — or cause deterioration — in another.
Stress Changes Whether Medication Works
We measure stress at every visit.
to medication
to medication
Life stress during treatment changes the likelihood of responding to medication by a factor of three to four.
When a patient fails to respond during a high-stress period, the stress is the more likely explanation, not the medication.
We know to wait, support, and reassess once the stress passes, not switch medications unnecessarily.
How Our Approach Works
Step 1: Classify. At your first visit, we identify your depression subtype and evaluate for ADHD.
Step 2: Match. Your treatment plan is informed by outcome data from hundreds of patients who share your profile.
We know which approaches have worked for patients like you, and which haven't.
Step 3: Track. We measure your symptoms at every visit using a structured scale.
If you're improving, we see it. If you're getting worse, we catch it early and change course.
Step 4: Learn. Every patient's outcome feeds back into our data.
The more patients we treat, the more precise our treatment matching becomes.
What This Means for You
81% of our patients have already tried medication elsewhere before coming to us.
are improving within 8 months
after two failed medications
(STAR*D)
In the largest depression study ever published, patients who had failed two prior medications had a 14% chance of responding to their third.
Our patients, at that same clinical stage, respond at substantially higher rates.
Does This Sound Like You?
- You've tried two or more antidepressants without lasting improvement
- You've been told you have "treatment-resistant depression"
- You suspect you might have ADHD but no one has assessed it
- You can't concentrate and everyone, including you, blames the depression
- You feel like no one is tracking whether your treatment is actually working
If any of these resonate, the pattern makes sense: the treatment didn't match the diagnosis.
It starts with knowing what you're actually treating.
Ready to Find Out What's Really Going On?
Your provider will walk you through your profile, explain what the data says, and build a treatment plan matched to you.
Schedule a ConsultationFindings based on outcome data from Live Well Psychiatry patients (N > 1,000 with evaluable depression outcomes). All findings are provider-agnostic — consistent across multiple clinicians. Response defined as ≥50% improvement in core depression symptoms. STAR*D comparison references published per-step remission rates. Individual results vary. Live Well Psychiatry serves patients throughout Idaho via telehealth.
FAQ’s
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We are in-network with the insurance companies listed below. Please note that we do not accept Medicare or Medicaid and we are unable to bill insurance companies that we are not in-network with.
Aetna PPO (Trinity)
Allegiance Benefit
Allied Benefits (Aetna on card)
Blue Cross Connected Care
Blue Cross Federal
Blue Shield Commercial
Boon-Chapman Administrators
ComPsych
EBMS
First Choice Health NetworkHealth Management (HMA)
Meritain Health
Moda Select
Mountain Health Co-Op
PacificSource (SLHP, Oregon)
Regence Group Administrators
Select Health (SLHP)
Trustmark
WebTPASome plans have network or provider restrictions.
Call us with your insurance card in hand and we'll confirm coverage before your first visit. -
A typical in-network insurance copay is $20 to $60.
The copay for the intake may be more.
We bill your insurance directly.
We'll tell you your expected cost before you schedule.
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First appointments can usually be scheduled within 2 weeks of contacting us.
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Treatment is available statewide in Idaho via secure telehealth video. In-person visits for medication management and TMS are available at our Meridian office.