They seemed to insist it was depression (which I don't think it is as I absolutely value my life and have no desire to do harm to myself or anyone else).

I suspect that it would certainly be something more obvious and noticeable if it were a serious, more acute type of depression (i.e., the kind of depression that comes to mind if I asked you to imagine a "person with depression")... but there are varying degrees of chronic depression that can impact and interfere with your daily life without presenting the overtly obvious symptoms of depression... so don't get too hung up on the word "depression".

I have been on treatment for ADHD (without hyperactivity) for 12 years. About 3 years after starting my treatment, my primary care physician moved his practice to a different state and a new doctor came in. He appeared to be skeptical about the original diagnosis and he, too, seemed quite sure it was simply misdiagnosed depression. He decided to start me on an antidepressant (Wellbutrin) while weening me off of my original medication for a couple of months. The only thing that Wellbutrin did was it made me want to smoke less (Chantix, I believe, was actually developed after noticing this side-effect in Wellbutrin).

I was still in college, at the time, and obviously this was impacting my school work... but, since there was no improvement with the Wellbutrin, he put me back on my original medication and dosage and then sent me to a psychiatrist to get a more "formal" ADHD diagnosis. I had one initial visit with the doctor--just an hour or so and talked about general stuff, nothing too specific--and then returned for a 4-5 hour battery of tests: the MMPI-2 (with fun questions like "Do you ever have the desire to hurt small animals?"), a little thing on the computer where there was a box in the middle of the screen and a dot that would appear on the screen every second or two... if the dot appeared inside the box, I clicked a button... if it was outside the box, I did nothing (sat there for what felt like hours just staring at that stupid screen trying not to go insane). And then there was a bunch of other little tests... word tests, association stuff, doing mental math, putting together a small puzzle, using a few differently shaped blocks to recreate a shape in a picture... blah blah blah. It was kind of exhausting, honestly.

My third (and final) visit was for my results: High- to Very High- scores in my verbal, visual, spatial IQs... very low score in my working memory IQ. I don't remember all of the specifics, anymore, but all in all it was quite insightful and actually quite relieving to kind of finally understand the why of it all. He gave me exact copies of the results, his assessment, and the report he was going to be sending back to my doctor. After this, I never had a problem with getting my prescriptions refilled.

I want my ADHD treated (if that's what I have).

So then this is good. Go into it with an open mind; don't be closed off against any alternatives (depression or otherwise). You want your symptoms treated... let them be sure they are treating you for the right thing. There is a good amount of liability for doctors when it comes to certain types of controlled medications and Adderall is one of the most-controlled drugs: Schedule 1 drugs = there is no medicinal value; illegal substance. Schedule 2 drugs = has some valid medicinal value but extremely high potential for abuse. Adderall is Schedule 2.

Good luck to you with your treatment. It's often very hard for people--especially adults--to admit that something is "wrong" and to seek treatment for it. Most people whose ADHD goes undiagnosed into adulthood just end up finding ways to self-medicate (drugs, alcohol, etc.) or to make due (often by working in lower-skilled jobs where the attention to detail is not as vital).

I hope you find something that works for you, regardless of how they ultimately decide to treat you (Adderall or something else...).