Is anxiety and depression your biggest problem with ASD?

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To clarify I am talking about clinical depression/major depression....the disorder basically, not feeling blue. And not saying it has emotional causes alone, but more factors. For instance I know being chronically bullied and ostracized growing up certainly contributed to my depression issues probably some genetic pre-disposition and maybe some chemical imbalance but I can see some environmental contributors in my case as well.

And I do not particularly need an education lesson on Major Depression, I've had it for years...have attempted suicide, am in therapy so I am quite familiar with what it is and how it differs from normal feelings of sadness or feeling down. Point was much of the time it can also have environmental factors that contribute to developing the disorder.

I've always had a hard time with this idea that anxiety and depression are all chemical and genetic based, to me that tells me that those are totally irrational responses to my life situation and the disability I have. I don't necessarily disagree either that these symptoms shouldn't be treated separately but I don't think it really cures anything, it just numbs you to the fact as any other drug does and that's why I don't differentiate much between prescribed medication and self medicating since they're both essentially the same just with different side effects and societal judging. Its all just treating the symptoms and not the root cause in my opinion, I just don't believe that "oh your chemicals are just off." Medication is introducing chemicals into your brain that make you high or whatever that change your natural predisposition. ASD is a disability separate from these symptoms sure but it originates mainly from its fallout at that's how I feel about myself, if the disability isn't accommodated(by whatever means) then you really have no hope of ever being contented in my opinion and can only just numb yourself to what your situation is. I imagine the feeling is the same for anyone that has any type of disability and can't do something like "normal" people can, if I was in a wheelchair I'd probably be pretty depressed not being able to go upstairs or run or whatever too.

Anxiety and depression are the areas of my ASD (not official yet, I am currently in the diagnosis process) that cause me the most problems in life (my dyspraxia and dyslexia are manageable, mind blindness is only a problem with toxic people, the rest of my condition I actually enjoy, I f*****g love it..).

Anxiety is causing me to perform poorly in job interviews and prevents me from finding a partner. Depression is killing my motivation to do anything, including the things I enjoy.

I don't feel that they are inherent parts of my personality, or condition, these problems were caused by the way I was treated at school (and to a lesser extent in the work place) but it was my inability to communicate effectively that made me vulnerable to this.

I do not blame myself for this, I feel that if others had treated me with the respect everybody deserves I would not have developed these problems at all. I would still struggle with my communication issues but at least I would not appear so weak to others.

I feel that, with help, I can beat the anxiety and that will cure the depression. It is what drove me to seek a formal diagnosis, society shoved this stick up my arse so they can help me remove it...

Got it.


I am sorry that you know this subject so well from the inside and sorry if I came off as lecturing. I wouldn't wish it on anyone--no doubt that environment is important in depression, probably both the social environment the individual is in and the neonatal environment that changes epigenetic factors.

I think the evidence from twin studies is that depression is about 50% heritable. That means it's 50% environmental. In individual cases the balance may be different, but that's the result discovered in many studies.

Also, treatment should not just be drugs. Though drugs can be helpful in some cases the evidence is that a combination of drugs and effective talk therapy (e.g., good CBT) has the best results. This does involve dealing wiht causes, not just symptoms.

Depression and anxiety do both lead to irrational thoughts, but that isn't at all to say that struggling with the impact of autism isn't a reason to get depressed.

It's worth keeping in mind that there are people with autism and people in wheelchairs who are not depressed about their situations. This is not to blame people who are--blame and fault are not rational considerations around these subjects--but instead this is something that gives me hope. When I get bad anxiety or start to feel depressed, I recognize that these are perspective distorting conditions, not an intrinsic part of me or inevitable result of other things about me. I can rationally hope.

I think that different people with anxiety or depression have different causes of those.
It is not accurate to state that lack of connection with others is the primary cause of anxiety or depression in people with autism.
Lack of connection may be one cause in some people, but other people may become depressed due to not being able to find a job or not being able to manage school.

I do not think it is all chemical/genetic based, but I think those can certainly be factors...for instance not everyone with depression has a rough child-hood or anything to really point at in their environment that could have brought it on, so not sure how else to explain it in those cases it might be intresting to see if in those cases drug treatments are more effective than in cases with more environmental causes. But as a rule drugs are meant to alleviate symptoms not really cure the underlying issue, so in my case I do try medications and will self medicate with cannabis I also use different herbs of course I look into possible interactions and such with any medications I take to be safe, but I am in therapy and attempting to figure out other ways to improve my situation/state of being that could have more long term benefits than temporary relief.

Also though not all medications add anything to the brain, like SSRI's just effect the brain so there ends up being more seretonin available in the brain...but it doesn't 'add' seretonin. whearas marijuana does 'add' cannabanoids which the body processes but the brain itself also creates similar chemicals thus there are receptors to pick up the simular cannabanoids from marijuana. So all drugs/medications are different some quite so and most are not 100% understood. That is why I hate when people just assume medication has to be 'safe' because a doctor prescribed it....it's still drugs which means it still can have side effects/risks just like anything you get on the street so its best to really look into the information and discuss it with the doctor not just take anything they hand you with no further question.

Also I think how a person in a wheelchair feels varies...I have heard of some individuals who do find those aspects depressing, but them some view it as new found freedom to be more mobile and get places on their own. Some have mostly come to terms with it and from time to time still feel down about not being able to walk or maybe having difficulties getting some places, and some might have other disabilities or mental conditions to which could be over-looked because they are in a wheelchair......for instance if someone in that condition has major depression a lot of people could miss it as them just being sad about the situation, if there really is more to it.

Also I do not think chemical/genetic factors really imply one is totally irrational in their situation to life...in fact might even make it more rational. For instance I have PTSD and some others who had my same experience do not...so even with that at first I thought it was an 'irrational' response, but not really if genetic/chemical/environmental factors where the cause. Also how your brain/body works is part of your life so if one has more of genetic factors and chemical imbalance it wouldn't be 'irrational' to express symptoms of that. Though the expression of those can sometimes be somewhat irrational...or one might do irrational things but doesn't mean the whole person has no knowledge and is always 100% irrational and wrong.

Indeed, more accurate to state that it's a factor in some cases.

Apparently asthma, allergies and stomach upsets are all typical co-morbids with AS, and they are more of a pain to me than my anxiety is. Not that my anxiousness is easy to deal with, but I'd much rather be rid of the physical ailments.

I chose the fifth option, but after reading your post, I would pick the fourth one because I think that society not accepting autism is my biggest problem.

I used to have GAD due to a school environment that gave me sensory overload, and I one time got depression from getting convinced that the Social Thinking curriculum was okay (the curriculum says the autistic way is wrong and the neurotypical way is right). Both of those issues were due to society's intolerance of autism.

Absolutely, in fact, when I am sitting alone and letting my mind wonder, it sometimes seems to instinctively go into to depressing scenarios about my future or worse case scenarios even when i try to bring my mind back. I am working on ways to end that including various types of isochronic music therapy, regular exercise and deep breathing technqiues but I am always looking for new suggestions and strategies someone else may have found worked like a charm that I have not thought of. Does someone have any other ideas?

But yes, that is far and away the most difficult part. The part I would cut my left hand off to be rid of.

Anxiety has been the most crippling aspect of ASD for me. If I did not have so much social anxiety in my life and also agoraphobia, I could see myself dealing with everything so much better.

Depressive thoughts are tough, but can be worked through in my case. I just cannot seem to get a grip over anxious thoughts and feelings.

I'm pretty much in the same place you are.
I have not found a solution. I have been avoiding medications because they do strange things to me, and possibly make things worse in the long run.

I have no idea if this is related to ASD, but personally, I have peace of mind (by that I mean absence of depression/dysphoria, anxiety/worry) when I am deep in thought and focused on solving some problem. Usually, this involves very, very detailed level of analysis (likely at a level that a normal person would find exhausting). I wish I could be deep in thought all the time. It’s those times I am not that I am susceptible to depression/dysphoria, anxiety/worry.

That happens with me, too. While it is probably more intense with autistics, I think everyone is like that when they are focused on something they enjoy. And the problem with depression is that you stop enjoying a lot of things, which creates a vicious circle in which you are unhappy because you are never entertained and you are never entertained because you are unhappy.

It is absolutely true as some posters have pointed out that anxiety and depression are not even part of the diagnostic criteria for ASD. No doubt there are some people with ASD who have no anxiety or depression issues. But it does seem to me in my own personal experience that anxiety and depression are the single greatest impairment I have had to cope with.