Depression symptoms within the ASD community

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Hi I was just curious to find out peoples personal symptoms of depression .

I have briefly read that symptoms can be different within the ASD community,
and wanted to know some of them.

My own experience was that I've had suicidal thoughts from a young age,these continued for many years to this day,Frustration,stress,circumstances,bullying(much younger) generally being severely unhappy. I only feel I suffered classical depression a few years ago,which was completely different. It seemed as much a physical issue as a mental one. Severe lethargy,lack of interest in anything,run down constantly,immune system felt compromised,suicidal tendencies/ideation/planning etc These are my thoughts on it

I have had background depression as I like to call it, just under the surface.

As a teenager while being bullied I suffered it more deeply.

About ten years ago I had what I think is Clinical depression, which felt a lot like waking up in a dream and only seeing high walls all around. I basically stopped living, although I could hyperfocus on the computer. Talking to people online for hours on end, sometimes upto 20 hours. I spent almost a year like that. I could sit and have a conversation with someone online, sounding like I was the happiest person in the world, and at the same time I would be crying without realising it. I was even losing lumps of hair and couldn't care less.

It took me about a year to get past the first part, then another few years to feel as normal as I could feel.

I understand this to a certain degree as the most comfortable iam with people is via social media. I'm much better than many socially but it's still a struggle. If I never had to interact with another person bar close friends/close family it wouldn't bother me. The net has been a revelation. It bypasses the face to face interaction Many struggle with. I'm not sure if many others have similar experiences with depressive thoughts I.e a more transient depression that comes and goes based on circumstances,frustrations,sadness and true depression. It would be interesting to hear others thoughts on it.

My doctor thinks that my depression, originally considered to be neuro-chemical in nature, can also be because of my being on the spectrum. (It could be both since depression runs in my family, with people that likely were not on the spectrum.) Not that my finally getting a preliminary diagnosis depressed me... The doctor meant that people on the spectrum can have a harder time of it than NTs.

My therapist has also concluded that what I'd thought was a related problem, seeming agoraphobia, is actually the result of sensory overload.

I have gotten bad enough where I've thought of ways to do away with myself (and there was sort of a half-hearted effort to do just that when I was in my teens...which nobody ever found out about). These days, I manage to shift it into WISHING I was dead, but putting any actual thoughts on how to do it off to the side.

Let's face it, killing yourself isn't a good thing.

I like a saying I once heard-
"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."

It is. Anyone who's really bad off with depression and is straying into that area...keep that saying in mind. Fight to stay alive.

Great saying Sethno

Re-occuring depression since i was about 10, first time i moved and developed Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

I have depression mainly due to not being able to get a job which always brings me down, and others are always expecting me to do something because they provide for me etc. I only get a pittance every fortnight from benefits, and whenever i'm frustrated, I blow it all on something useless like the lottery. Once I have a job, and keep it for at least 2 days, I will have accomplished my lifelong dream or goal that others have so easily achieved. Having the ASD label though I think impacts on how other people are bothered to help me find a job, if I don't disclose it, they'll assume I know what to do with my life and go about their business but if they do know about it they know to just look the other way and help someone else more able or less able whatever the case may be.

I think I first developed depression at age ten, when I started getting bullied for being weird. But there were all kinds of other bad things going on in my life.

I don't believe that my depression is chemical in nature; I believe it's caused by life circumstances.

I always thought depression was caused by changes in brain chemicals, which could be triggered by stress and personal life events, such as divorce, death , moving home, physical illness but I am sure the triggers are countless and very personal to each sufferer.

I think also it can be caused by a chemical imbalance alone, and for little or no apparent reason, but this is probably less common.

These are just my observations, and if anyone thinks they are depressed they should always seek medical advice, as depression has many levels and though you can survive with it today, you can end up in a much darker state tomorrow.

So always see your doctor

I was on antidepressants for years. They didn't make me not depressed. They made me apathetic.

Because the actual problem was not solved, I didn't feel better. It unnecessarily altered my brain chemistry and had bad effects. My life circumstances needed to be changed, and they were not.

If I were in better circumstances, I'd be happy. It really doesn't take much. A nice, sunny day will make me happy. Really bad things just happen constantly, so it doesn't last.

Some people can be sensitive to certain anti depressants, even to all of them.

Talking therapies work for some people, which can be a catch 22 if your not good at talking to other people.

Some people take natural remedies to help alleviate symptoms.

Different things help different people, but if your doctor is competent he should be aware of all the
different types of therapies available

Same here. I'm taking mirtazapine (primarily for anxiety, though I have in the past been clinically depressed) and I'm struggling to care about anything. It's a bit of a problem since I've just started my undergrad thesis year and I can barely concentrate. I've tried many antidepressants in the past and they have all had this effect, as well as throwing in some other debilitating side-effects for good measure. It's so frustrating to be told by a GP that your only two choices are the anxiety and depression or a bunch of difficult side-effects caused by the medication that's supposed to help you with the anxiety and depression. Even more frustrating when you suspect it's because you've reached the limits of the GP's knowledge and she's put you in the too-hard basket, and you have no idea where to turn to for help next. I'm going back to the GP next week to see if I can sort something out.

To the OP: I don't think my depression manifested itself any differently than it would in someone without autism. I recognise the typical descriptions of depression in my experiences of it. Mine is usually accompanied by overwhelming anxiety - in fact I suspect it starts with mild anxiety, which gets a little worse, then a little more worse, then yet worse again before I finally spiral down into depression if I can't get any relief before then. What might be unusual is that it started when I was quite young - possibly with my first major bullying episode at age 10 - and probably never entirely goes away, even when I feel more or less okay. I don't think I've experienced true joy for many years.

My experience is very similar. For some reason, it's difficult for people to comprehend. Society gets that people get depressed after losing a job or a beloved pet, but when someone's life is a endless series of crappy catch 22s, it has to be brain chemicals making then sad? Uh, no. Situations can be chronic, so can the depression.

What I need is a job to support myself, a car that isn't about to break down, a house that isn't falling apart (or the money to fix it), a relationship that isn't constantly stressful, and maybe a couple of friends.

Then I'll probably be just fine.

I felt depressed alittle as a kid because I struggled aLOT in school, I was bullied a lot, my parents were upset about my poor grades & also were very critical of my Aspergers quirks & my other disabilities. I was alittle depressed at 20 because of problems finding a job due to my disabilities & my parents were on my back alot about how I wasn't working even thou I was applying at every place I could think of that I might be able to do. I got in my 1st relationship at 20 & when that fell apart, I fell into a psychotic depression. I spent the next 5 years on psych meds & didn't feel fully better till after I weaned myself off all the meds. I think the meds helped hold me together but they were doing me more harm in the end. A couple years ago I was having a hard time sleeping partly because of some stuff going on in my life & I felt depressed. My girlfriend said I had been acting depressed for a while before the stuff was going on & I didn't feel depressed then. My doc thought my depression was related to problems not sleeping & prescribed Trazodone. It's an antidepressant but used more often nowadays in low doses to help with sleep. I hadn't been on it before & didn't want to be on anything I had been on before & I also liked the idea that it would help me sleep. I started sleeping better & my depression got better. The life stuff passed but I decided to stay on it sense my girlfriend quit telling me that I was acting depressed after being on it abit & I have no side-effects. Also with my history, I'm probably more prone to developing depression so staying on Trazodone is kind of a precaution.