Why people with Asperger's Syndrome are so often depressed..

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I don't have scientific evidence but if someone carries a pessimistic, defeatest attitude and believes that they can do nothing to change their own or others situation it can predispose them to depression. If you think you are unable to do anything right then it becomes true. You become what you think about. It's an illusion though guys but a powerful one.

I cannot.

Well, I do not think that is is because of personality per se. I mean, I think that it is also important how an individual has been conditioned which can influence someone´s personality.

I have googled what another user asked for:http://www.medicaldaily.com/am-i-depressed-types-people-more-prone-depression-299286

The question was not directed to me, but I was curious about it.

http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/84292/115984/personalities/

Last edited by Sherry221B on 16 Mar 2015, 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hmm that's interesting but I'm not sure. I don't think personality is fixed. I don't really know what personality people would say I have for example.

I did not mean that it is fixed. I will explain that: Your past personal experiences, your upbringing, your background, etc, etc. All of this can influence your personality to be more of a certain way. Your main characteristics may remain, but all these influences will make these alterations in someone´s personality. That is what I think.

I disagree. I think it's the other way around. Being depressed causes a defeatist attitude because being depressed is defeating. It is not an illusion. Just because you can't see something doesn't mean it's not real. And depression is not about character. It is a physical reality. For me, medication keeps it in check. Not my attitude. (Although it is certainly more positive with medication.)

I have no references other than myself.

Ah i see

Depression can make you think that way, yes. It is something difficult to overcome.

It's like some life sucking monster takes over my mind. It's horrible. Rowling captured it with the dementors in Harry Potter.

I know how you feel, androbot. I hope it gets better for you.

Would that mean that everyone who ever had a defeatist attitude was depressed at the time, and no one who wasn't depressed could have a defeatist attitude?

These links give a pretty good explanation.

To me, a personality is pretty much a chemical soup in the brain. So the same chemicals that cause one to have a particular personality would also cause one to have depression.

I have AS and am not content with being completely alone. Life is so overwhelming with all of its struggles. Sometimes a problem or crisis happens, and one is faced with dealing w/ the indifference of others alone. In those situations, it would help to have someone at my side. I get depressed frequently at the prospect of this...

Thank you. I'm keeping fairly stable these days.



While it is the case that defeatism is a symptom of depression, it isn't the case that all defeated people are depressed.

So ... no... and no.

rugulach, I am glad that the information I provided was of your liking.

Androbot, you are welcome.

I think there are many reasons why depression is such a cardinal feature of being on the spectrum. One not yet mentioned in this thread is the issue of innate neurotransmitter profiles. There is a substantial body of research that suggests these profiles are significantly different from neurotypical profiles. Obviously innate neurotransmitter profiles have a genetic cause - you need a certain mix of certain genes to be on the spectrum. There are still obscure pieces of this puzzle, though it is an important field of research. What seems to be overlooked is that the antidepressants in vogue were developed and trialled on NT populations, but are used will nilly on spectrum people - and the fit doesn't seem to be a very good one. (Why do people on the spectrum so ardently believe, in many cases, that NT solutions will work for them?) We need solutions to depression that are specific to our needs, not NT needs.

Yet the neurotransmitter/ASD research doesn't make the headlines like the sensational stuff "Autism caused by vaccines" etc (which is complete and utter rubbish, but the naive cure people seized on it as an easy to fix thing - stop vaccinating and you stop autism). Sigh...

And now it's poorly designed MRI studies "proving" this or that (when they don't prove it at all). Many are so reductionist in their thinking and design that its another basket of career-building hype on the backs of the ASD population, in many cases. Sigh...

There are many levels to solving this riddle of depression - physical, biochemical/neurochemical/social-cultural/emotional and psychological/what kind of family you are born into and how they treat you/abuse experienced and its aftermath... it's very complicated as all of these things interact.

One-dimensional approaches will never provide the solutions that work comprehensively for everyone on the spectrum, and the problem with research is that researchers are only interested in their own discipline, there is little interaction between the various factions and no pooling of knowledge in any constructive way. Each one wants to be the one who finds "the answer" - right now its neuroscience. In decades past it was the reductionist behaviourists (they are still at it, though not the force they were). And none of them are listening to people who actually experience autistic depression. So the lack of progress is not surprising to me. But it is a tragedy, because the qualities of life that ASD people have are the poorer for this scientific tunnel vision, career building and reductionist thinking.