Board index › General Discussion › General Autism Discussion

How Prevalent Is Anxiety/Depression Amongst Autistic People?

Page 2 of 2 [ 28 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Previous topic | Next topic

I Am Most Strongly Affected By
Anxiety 69%  69%  [ 33 ]
Depression 29%  29%  [ 14 ]
Neither 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 48

League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,280
Location: Pacific Northwest

02 Mar 2017, 1:31 am

I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder and I sometimes question it but then I think that diagnoses could be correct because I can't handle stress like a normal person and too much thrown at me is stressful or too much change at once, and the fact I tend to exaggerate sometimes so I think something is bad than it really is and I also get money anxiety and I do have some social anxiety and that came from many social failures. Plus I get stressed out about things most people wouldn't get stressed out about and I get frustrated easily. I don't have it on a daily basis. I do believe anxiety can be a misdiagnoses even if they do have it because it's not their main issue so that diagnoses alone is not going to give them support to the degree they need it.


_________________
Son: Diagnosed w/anxiety and ADHD. Also academic delayed and ASD lv 1.

Daughter: NT, no diagnoses. Possibly OCD. Is very private about herself.


ScottieKarate
Raven
Raven

User avatar

Joined: 2 Dec 2014
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Posts: 106

02 Mar 2017, 1:39 am

Scary that only one says neither. The follow-up would be to what degree you are affected by it.



Edna3362
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 29 Oct 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,808
Location: ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔

02 Mar 2017, 2:46 am

ScottieKarate wrote:
Scary that only one says neither. The follow-up would be to what degree you are affected by it.


.. That would be me. :oops:
I lost that persistent feeling of being tense and down, that it no longer happened to me.
I have already almost forgotten the feeling of being worried or regretting too much that my worst memories, experiences, and all of my worst mistakes became a laugh and just a mere information from the past than a wound or a scar or something to be denied.


When anxiety or depression 'episodes' DOES happen to me (which is really rare these days, and since then those years ago) it goes away really fast that it never lasts more than a day, and it barely impedes my functioning. And it's never as intense as I felt before.
It became more of an emotion to me than some sort of condition that I have to fight or endure with or a nuisance to cope with.


_________________
Gained Number Post Count (1).
Lose Time (n).

Lose more time here - Updates at least once a week.


Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 76
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

02 Mar 2017, 4:31 am

B19 wrote:
I think that a lot of anxiety is possibly "learned anxiety" in the sense that people on the spectrum realise after a while that they can never really know how neurotypical people in the next new work, educational or social setting are going to react, and when the next "attack" experience is coming (so often in the form of namecalling like "you're weird"). Being treated unkindly is one thing, but the unpredictability and social humiliation are added stresses which accumulate over time.

Some anxiety is no doubt due to neurotransmitter differences which have been found on the spectrum, but not all I think - we are social creatures, yet so many of us end up with social anxiety after having been publicly shamed for often trivial social errors. This situational component of learned anxiety is ignored by therapists, it seems, so that the victim of social shaming is just not supported nor really acknowledged, but viewed as an intrinsically anxious person with an internally generated "anxiety disorder".

In one sense I see anxiety disorders as communicating a history of unhealed, unacknowledged, attacks and wounds; people on the spectrum seem generally so quick to internalise all blame for any perceived defect. In another I see this prevalence of anxiety as representing the strain of living life on a continual tightrope when walking in every kind of social situation - an ever present anxiety about the next fall, always trying to make it to the other side unharmed.


Well said. Until recently, my life looked like a series of accidents that had not killed me, but had made me weaker each time. I'm finally learning that non-inherited conditions can be recovered from, and even my old AS work-arounds improved by learning new tricks.



Tripodologia
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 145
Location: Norway

02 Mar 2017, 6:12 am

I deal with both, but I'd say anxiety is more prevalent and debilitating because it's much more constant than my depressive symptomatology (which comes and goes). I think that adult life structure has quite a bit to do with it, though, and so do sensitivity issues. Knowing that my executive function is not well developed, I become anxious when having to manage things such as work, house chores, personal hygiene, etc. I think about all the things I have to do all of the time, and visualise my week as if it was a calendar, anticipate all the things I need to do in fear I may forget something, etc. It's an anxiety melting pot. Then, I also have to work in environments that are often stressful for me but Ok for others (i.e. having fluorescent lightning, people typing loudly on their keyboards next to me, people talking, constant social interactions, etc.). Finally, I struggle a lot with inertia; having to switch from one task to another takes a lot of effort, and I often have to push myself to do things, which also exacerbates my anxiety issues. Anxiety about having anxiety is an endless spinning circle, it seems.


_________________
Really enjoyed being a yellow-throated woodpecker while it lasted.

-

Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 139 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 67 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)


Polly
Raven
Raven

Joined: 17 Jan 2017
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 111
Location: Australia

02 Mar 2017, 6:32 am

I think my depression has been caused by the fact that I've always allowed anxiety to dictate my life.
Having asperges never ruined my life anxiety did. :(



Dear_one
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 2 Feb 2008
Age: 76
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,721
Location: Where the Great Plains meet the Northern Pines

02 Mar 2017, 6:34 am

Tripodologia wrote:
I deal with both, but I'd say anxiety is more prevalent and debilitating because it's much more constant than my depressive symptomatology (which comes and goes). I think that adult life structure has quite a bit to do with it, though, and so do sensitivity issues. Knowing that my executive function is not well developed, I become anxious when having to manage things such as work, house chores, personal hygiene, etc. I think about all the things I have to do all of the time, and visualise my week as if it was a calendar, anticipate all the things I need to do in fear I may forget something, etc. It's an anxiety melting pot. Then, I also have to work in environments that are often stressful for me but Ok for others (i.e. having fluorescent lightning, people typing loudly on their keyboards next to me, people talking, constant social interactions, etc.). Finally, I struggle a lot with inertia; having to switch from one task to another takes a lot of effort, and I often have to push myself to do things, which also exacerbates my anxiety issues. Anxiety about having anxiety is an endless spinning circle, it seems.


Even NTs get more done with less noise and better light. There are reliable studies to cite. Maybe you can make it a crusade for everyone instead of just yourself, and come out as a hero for the company. Just skip the awards dinner. :?



Tripodologia
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 14 Nov 2016
Gender: Female
Posts: 145
Location: Norway

02 Mar 2017, 7:40 am

Dear_one wrote:
Tripodologia wrote:
I deal with both, but I'd say anxiety is more prevalent and debilitating because it's much more constant than my depressive symptomatology (which comes and goes). I think that adult life structure has quite a bit to do with it, though, and so do sensitivity issues. Knowing that my executive function is not well developed, I become anxious when having to manage things such as work, house chores, personal hygiene, etc. I think about all the things I have to do all of the time, and visualise my week as if it was a calendar, anticipate all the things I need to do in fear I may forget something, etc. It's an anxiety melting pot. Then, I also have to work in environments that are often stressful for me but Ok for others (i.e. having fluorescent lightning, people typing loudly on their keyboards next to me, people talking, constant social interactions, etc.). Finally, I struggle a lot with inertia; having to switch from one task to another takes a lot of effort, and I often have to push myself to do things, which also exacerbates my anxiety issues. Anxiety about having anxiety is an endless spinning circle, it seems.


Even NTs get more done with less noise and better light. There are reliable studies to cite. Maybe you can make it a crusade for everyone instead of just yourself, and come out as a hero for the company. Just skip the awards dinner. :?

Yes, I know that seems to be the case. However, I share office with 5 other people, and it's as if there were certain office customs that are defaults, and anything outside of those customs are deviations. One major custom is actually having the ceiling (fluorescent) lights on. We all have desk lamps but these are rarely used (only when I happen to be alone, or with someone I know doesn't care about lights on / off). Most people I've asked want the lights on, and I've had people constantly comment on how cozy (not sure what to make of that, if it's an honest assertion or if it has a double meaning) the office looks when I'm alone with just the desk lamp. NTs are complicated to deal with :roll:


_________________
Really enjoyed being a yellow-throated woodpecker while it lasted.

-

Your neurodiverse (Aspie) score: 139 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 67 of 200
You are very likely neurodiverse (Aspie)


kraftiekortie
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 4 Feb 2014
Gender: Male
Posts: 87,510
Location: Queens, NYC

02 Mar 2017, 7:56 am

I'm in a pretty anxious state most of the time. It's rare that it gets severe.

There are times when I'm depressed, too. It's rare that it gets severe.

Unfortunately, both--at least to some extent--is part and parcel of having an Autism Spectrum Disorder.



AnonymousAnonymous
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Nov 2006
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 72,688
Location: Portland, Oregon

06 Mar 2017, 6:20 pm

I have Generalized Anxiety Disorder.


_________________
Silly NTs, I have Aspergers, and having Aspergers is gr-r-reat!


Noca
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 9 May 2015
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,932
Location: Canada

06 Mar 2017, 6:36 pm

Both, though I guess anxiety is more of a problem atm.



pokeystinker
Pileated woodpecker
Pileated woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 1 Mar 2017
Age: 34
Gender: Male
Posts: 175

07 Mar 2017, 4:53 am

I was diagnosed with both, along with Asperger's, and I find myself struggling with depression a lot more.


_________________
Quote:
I feel like an alien
A stranger, in an alien place.
(GENESIS)