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Is severe depression common with ASD?

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kraftiekortie
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04 Jun 2020, 7:16 pm

Inability to feel pleasure.



Edna3362
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04 Jun 2020, 7:23 pm

Depression is common to a certain set of circumstances that most autistics had to face.
It is as common as one's self and those around them had allowed it.

I've never had severe depression.
Or at least if I had, it's mostly a situational one, never lasted a month and had yet to come back.


The best way I had coped with it was to give myself a huge break from all the noise and chaos. Control my sense of shame, let go of pride.
Sit and contemplate -- human interactions, research and organizing, prayers and meditation, other mediums of expression is optional -- whatever helps to digest issues, to understand self and another.

The conscious mind can be dealt straight forward, but anything beyond that is tricky and requires coaxing.


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kraftiekortie
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04 Jun 2020, 7:25 pm

It’s almost always “situational” with me.



Hokieman7
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04 Jun 2020, 7:35 pm

What is anhedonea?



kraftiekortie
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04 Jun 2020, 7:50 pm

Lack of ability to feel pleasure.



blooiejagwa
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14 Aug 2020, 3:44 am

yes
identifying emotions daily (checking in) helps a lot..as a lot of us have alexithymia and do best when learning to pinpoint emotions and over time link them to what causes those (to 'connect' to them so can identify a bad rut--

before the
worst happens, ahead of time)
that's a gleaning from therapy and experience confirmed it.


recently a doctor informed me that (lifelong since at least age 10) things that i was describing came from extreme depression. she briefly explained why they are depression and not something else.

so she helped me and allowed me to up my dose to
450 mg (total) of Welbutrin.
taken as 150 mg and 300 mg a day..

(from previous 150 mg)

This really helps.

Show Spoiler
It works better than previous lower doses, and also works better (for me) than other things like Lexapro, Zoloft, 5 htp/SAM-e (though i still take these when i can).

use (in hopes of improvement, perhaps it is already there)
fish / omega 3 from plant oils, B complex and iodine (b complex really does help though.. other users here have told me too!)
as the things that help (if u stop taking them after a few weeks and feel worse, u know it was working and necessary)

and electrolyte powder (mixed in water) when i feel EXTREMELY DEPRESSED to point of being unable to move except for brief spurts in a day (like mild shutdowns)

which is great for the summer heat waves..

also i think low levels of b vitamins.. so not only complex.. but began taking powder yeast for the b vitamins
(it's not gross honestly)
BOB'S RED MILL NUTRITIONAL YEAST - just a couple of teaspoons daily.. it actually tastes good..
but that helps a lot . can mix into yogurt or on top of salty food (tastes similar to cheese)
(stupidly left that at my brothers' home and i can tell a difference)

unsweetened/unflavoured kefir (probiotics as per Vagal nerve/Autism theory)
and fresh juice of different vegetables/fruit ordered when i feel REALLY BAD (like self-harm occuring)
helps alleviate quite a bit...


those are things that help (do not cure)

breathing in a controlled conscious way for a few minutes during the day also helps..
alleviate some of it.. not cure..
i think it's for life, for me..


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blooiejagwa
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14 Aug 2020, 3:48 am

auntblabby wrote:
Dbz33 wrote:
Anyone else have severe depression along with ASD?
What works or helps?

i can tell you only what works with me, YMMV- vigorous daily exercise, avoiding sugar in all its forms, mental hygiene. i got in the habit of stopping bad thoughts in their tracks, replacing them with any other thought, ANY other thought, even one so insipid as "i really love ice cream!" the theory behind that one is that the brain can only process one discrete thought [NOT "discreet"] at a time, IOW what you are thinking now is your whole awareness of living, so if you change that thought you change your awareness of living. i got that coping strategy from a book about treating depression sans pharma.



this is a very good concept thanks!
i bolded parts to make it easier for me to understand as i will come back to this time and time again no doubt.

it's like 'ego' thing i read somewhere recentl y .. by ibn jawziyyah .. like dont allow the ego to push u around


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14 Aug 2020, 4:08 am

blooiejagwa wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
Dbz33 wrote:
Anyone else have severe depression along with ASD?
What works or helps?

i can tell you only what works with me, YMMV- vigorous daily exercise, avoiding sugar in all its forms, mental hygiene. i got in the habit of stopping bad thoughts in their tracks, replacing them with any other thought, ANY other thought, even one so insipid as "i really love ice cream!" the theory behind that one is that the brain can only process one discrete thought [NOT "discreet"] at a time, IOW what you are thinking now is your whole awareness of living, so if you change that thought you change your awareness of living. i got that coping strategy from a book about treating depression sans pharma.


this is a very good concept thanks! i bolded parts to make it easier for me to understand as i will come back to this time and time again no doubt. it's like 'ego' thing i read somewhere recentl y .. by ibn jawziyyah .. like dont allow the ego to push u around

prego :) another way of putting it, is to not let bad thoughts live in your brain rent-free. :)



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14 Aug 2020, 4:20 am

Dbz33 wrote:
Anyone else have severe depression along with ASD?
What works or helps?


Cut out caffeine.



auntblabby
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14 Aug 2020, 4:24 am

^^^some of us find caffeine to be therapeutic, those of us with ADHD



Pepe
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14 Aug 2020, 4:28 am

auntblabby wrote:
^^^some of us find caffeine to be therapeutic, those of us with ADHD


Caffeine can stimulate negative OCD thoughts.



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14 Aug 2020, 4:46 am

Pepe wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
^^^some of us find caffeine to be therapeutic, those of us with ADHD


Caffeine can stimulate negative OCD thoughts.

i acknowledge that is bad. i was only speaking of people like myself who find that it wakes up our sleepy frontal lobes.



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14 Aug 2020, 5:21 am

auntblabby wrote:
Pepe wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
^^^some of us find caffeine to be therapeutic, those of us with ADHD


Caffeine can stimulate negative OCD thoughts.

i acknowledge that is bad. i was only speaking of people like myself who find that it wakes up our sleepy frontal lobes.


Surprisingly, caffeine doesn't help my ADD. It just overcharges the entire emotional spectrum, which isn't a great thing, from where I sit.



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14 Aug 2020, 6:01 am

Pepe wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
Pepe wrote:
auntblabby wrote:
^^^some of us find caffeine to be therapeutic, those of us with ADHD


Caffeine can stimulate negative OCD thoughts.

i acknowledge that is bad. i was only speaking of people like myself who find that it wakes up our sleepy frontal lobes.


Surprisingly, caffeine doesn't help my ADD. It just overcharges the entire emotional spectrum, which isn't a great thing, from where I sit.

i regret that you can't use it, i find it very useful.



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15 Aug 2020, 6:36 am

I've never had depression to the point that it shut me down for more than a weekend, but I have dealt with it most of my life.
My recommendation: Sign up for something that occurs weekly and requires being around people. Its breaks you out of a viscous cycle to do something without having to plan it. And the organizer is glad you showed up, which is good for the ego.

What is your story, and what have you tried?

IR



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15 Aug 2020, 6:40 am

I feel profound sadness at times, but I haven't been depressed for over 30 years now.