I ask this because looking back, I certainly had traits of depression when younger. Did anyone else have this aswell? I am not sure what the exact cause of it was back then. Possibly feeling alienated amongst others, and not being able to tolerate certain social and sensory stimuli. Any feed back would be appreciated.
Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Age: 68 Gender: Female Posts: 1,562 Location: London UK
08 Jan 2009, 4:16 am
I would say depression is quite normal in anyone who finds them selves in childhood to be an object of ridicule and general punch bag among there peers.
_________________ Wisdom must be gathered, it cannot be given.
Ditto for me as a child too. Life just seemed so damned pointless during most of my childhood. I never self harmed, but suicidal thoughts often crept in.
_________________ They leave behind so many shadows. This substance in time forced into life,
still exists because it's here: living in me, living in all the memories, in my life.
Lost inside blank infinity.
Yes, looking back I was depressed from I think 10/11 years old. It came from the fact that I just didn't fit in with my peers. The other kids were perfectly polite to me (until I went to High School) but no-one ever wanted to play with me after school or invite me around as much as the other kids, if they did they soon stopped speaking to me and would 'dump' me for someone else. Strangely enough I was fine to hang about with when there was no-one else for them to go to.
I can remember feeling so left out, and different to everyone else, plus I was always the 'weird' one. I also think it may have unsettled my peers because while I was weird, I was also one of the brightest kids in my class.
I could never understand what it was about me that just turned people off, and that made me feel lonely, confused, and sad.
Joined: 10 Oct 2006 Age: 45 Gender: Female Posts: 1,054
08 Jan 2009, 10:28 am
I had major depression at age 24-25 but it was situational.
My mom always claimed I was depressed when I was a child, but I think she was confusing meltdowns with depression. I cry when I get angry, so when I broke out in tears every time something really upset me (putting my clean laundry in the same basket as the dirty clothes, missing the school bus, having a new recipe turn out poorly) she would confuse it with depression.
I had my first episode of major depression at age 10. In my case, the depression had nothing to do with bullying or ridicule - I just felt a deep sense of alienation from being so very different and not understanding why.
Joined: 7 Dec 2008 Age: 60 Gender: Male Posts: 850 Location: New Jersey, USA
08 Jan 2009, 10:31 am
I have had moments of depression since I was in the third grade. Last year, there was a two-week period where things like getting out of bed was mentally challenging.
_________________ "Everything was fine until I woke up."
I have found that depression and anxiety are both very common with ASD's. I had both as a child and now my son, who has Asperger's, is also dealing with both problems.
_________________ "...gypsy lost in the twilight zone..."
Joined: 15 Sep 2006 Gender: Female Posts: 4,906 Location: Europe
08 Jan 2009, 11:17 am
I was exceptionally un-depressed in childhood. There's no word for it and it wasn't mania. I was just not connected enough to the world to get such a thing as depression (or fears, anxiety, worries and such). I was too... somewhere else, untouched.
_________________ Autism + ADHD ______ The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett
very depressed, from 8 or so onward. lifted briefly when i got into and attended an art school, then was abused at 14 and i would say that much of my life has been like moving through molasses. sometimes it was like i was cheerful on the outside but couldn't move on the inside.
"deep sense of alienation" is at the root of it, imo.
but how many of us got labelled with depression and/or anxiety and it just stopped there?
an AS clinician my SO spoke to recently said it well (we're looking for some resources):
with these (neurological) difficulties/differences, how could she *not* have depression/anxiety?