As Mental Health Improves, Autism "Worsens?"

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I've dealt with a lot of mental health issues for most of my childhood, and now that I'm in college I'm working on putting my life back together. I'm happy to say that my depression is completely gone during the summer, and I no longer have invasive general anxiety (it's still there but under control). I still have social anxiety, but that stems from my lack of social skills which will take a lot more than coloring books and vitamin D to fix.
And the lack of social skills is not helped by the fact that I act more autistic or "childlike" now that I'm happier and more confident. I'm starting to do echolalia more, in particular calling out the names of things that catch my attention ("Butterfly!" "Squirrel!" "Kittycat!") or whispering song lyrics or other phrases under my breath. I also openly flap my hands on occasion, something I haven't done for years.
I'm torn because to most of society this is a regression, but in general I feel happier. What should I do? Should I work on suppressing these behaviors?

Do you think your mental health issues were caused by repressing your autism?

It's better for you to be happy than normal.

I think most of my mental issues were caused by child abuse, which probably started shortly before my diagnosis, but my diagnosis didn't help either. So the education system and "family" making me repress my autism could have contributed to my mental problems.
I'm worried about what will happen when I look for a job. I've heard that in job interviews it's more important to be pleasant than to worry about eye contact or posture or anything like that, but "pleasant" is subjective.
I have a job right now, but I didn't need to interview for it and it's a work study job that's pretty simple, so that barely counts.

My suggestion would be NOT to try and suppress these behaviors, at least most of the time. Passing/masking tends to be very draining and unpleasant, especially over the long term. I think it does substantial damage. Of course, there are time when it probably is a good idea, such as during a job interview. But, in general, I think it's best to just be yourself, even if it may look a little "weird" to most people.

Wow I don't know about anyone else but as far as I know ALL that stuff worsens as you get older. Mental health especially. I'm sure my mom who was born suffering from depression would like to figure out a way to "get rid of it" but surely things don't work out like that.

I'd rather be autistic and in good mental health....

than in lousy mental health and not autistic.

Making us repress our autistic selves IS abuse. That's what you're saying, right? It's a hard one because usually our families and caregivers were acting with the intention of helping, but they were not.

Yes, when you are in a job interview, you should act all up and normal. And in public, its best to act somewhat controlled. But make sure you get enough private time so that you can really let yourself be yourself. And if you are really blessed, you'll meet some people who will embrace you with all of your weird intact.

I see a very strong correspondence between embracing my autistic self and a reduction in depression/anxiety. It also helps my migraine condition. Self acceptance - its the new prozac.

Be Happy. Let None Take that Away From you

I do the same thing. Repressing these autistic behaviors is draining to me and I am much happier when I don't care what others think of me and just be myself, autism and all. I mostly repress my autistic behaviors out in public still but not as much as I used to. I don't bother to at home though. As somanyspoons mentioned, acceptance, really helps anxiety and depression.

@somanyspoons, my mom was probably just trying to help without understanding how, but my dad actually hates me. He did and said other things not related to my autism. I'd rather not go into it, I just wanted to clarify that it is legitimate abuse but thankfully I'm out of that situation now and living with just my mom. My mom is also more accepting of my idiosyncracies now.

@green0star, I'm sorry you're having such difficulty but mental illness can be overcome. I've seen it happen. There have been a lot of advancements made recently, all sorts of new therapies and ideas. I went from being suicidal five years ago to being pretty content with life now. It wasn't one thing, like a specific therapy or a pill, it was a combination of things. I can't say for sure what specifically. I hope your mom will find the right combination of things.