Depression more common in Aspergers, not Autism itself???

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I was talking to a couple people about depression, and my mother mentioned how i was misdiagnosed with depression for seeming like i was always in my own world, funny how that works, I knew I was never ever depressed. I talked with families whom have classic autistic children, ask if they saw depression in them wondering maybe if i was a rare case because most people with ASD are prone to getting depressed, they all said no, thats usually more in cases that involve children with aspergers. I thought that was weird, i heard a couple families who all say that though. Which i dont think if that is entirely true or not. I honestly don't believe there is a difference in depression between the two diagnosis's. But I wanted to ask people here anyways..... If you have aspergers were you, or are you depressed diagnosed or not? and if you have classic autism were you, or are you depressed?

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Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated

Well... I never asked for how many of the kids with classical in my area are depressed. I know a few of the kids with AS have a hard time, feel down and beat about their difference or the attitude of others towards them (prior to diagnosis, which is still late and with an average of about age 8-10 and older here for AS). I'll ask if I can remember to next time I get the chance.

I'm some in-between AS and HFA and did not have depression yet. I did feel depressed badly once, but I didn't meet any of the criteria for depression of the DSM-IV-TR.

It makes a lot of sense that aspies would be diagnosed with depression more often that classic autistics. For starters, aspies tend to be "higher functioning" but they still have a lot of problems. So, they are always on the fringe of success and feeling "included," yet often success is limited in its in its depth and duration. Lots of near-misses can really wear on a person, especially when they don't know what's going on. Not to mention that, assuming aspies are higher functioning than classical autistics on the whole, it is going to be easier to recognize depression in an aspie than in a classically autistic person because an aspie's non-depressed behavior is going to more closely resemble "normal" behavior.

If you are aware of your "differences" compared to others, and you are not being accepted as a result, its definitely going to cause depression. I know that has been the case with me.

I think depression would be hard to determine in someone who is nonverbal or talks in catch phrases only. Most people won't consider you depressed if you don't express that you feel that way. So, I guess I'm saying that depression would be underdiagnosed if the person is nonverbal.

When I was very young my feelings were too jumbled together to figure out what they were. When I was 12, I was awake enough to figure out that I was depressed.

As a kid, I knew I was different. I remember specifically thinking that I was more mature than my own peers, and thinking that I was much smarter too. I also remember preferring to be around adults more. However, I don't remember being depressed..

Honestly, I've been unable to identify feelings of depressions or happiness. I can tell you what it's like to get excited, or disappointed, but I can't tell you what it's like being happy or depressed. I assumed I've been depressed for many years, though.

Asperger's - yes..... depression - yes

Finding you are putting yourself in negative situations because you've forgotten what it's like to feel anything.
Enjoying bad feelings because it's better than no feelings.
Continual preoccupation with suicide...

A lot of my depression eased with the disappearance of my self-loathing on discovering AS.

That’s the weird thing I have exactly that problem being on the cusp but not being able to take the reins, except I've have never had clinical depression. Anxiety yes, depression no. One GP tried to diagnose me with it once. Let’s just say mental health wasn’t his forte. I have never been diagnosed with clinical depression by any mental health professional I seen. The most they have said was I may sometimes get situational depression if disrupted (which is a natural part of my cognitive problems). I would say I’m more plain frustrated sometimes. I can’t really hold the sort of emotion for depression. I have too much blunting, I would have to consciously try to feel depressed, and that is difficult thing to hold up.

Don’t just think depression is your thoughts. I have every reason to be depressed, believe me. Depression is primarily a chemical difference. Sometimes it can be triggered, but presumably you need a tendency toward this.

I was depressed off and on when I was a kid.

yes, i was diagnosed with depression about 6 years ago before i heard or knew of Aspeger's Sydrome. i was under a lot of stressful situations and i was cut off from reality which made me feel dreadful. i never understood people at all, but was willing to try ands make friends. but i never could & later realised that i prefered being on my own. a lot of worry and stressful situations caused my depression which led to a nervous breakdown which what my doctor said. to me it was they were panic attacks but so dam scary! then i was put onto tablets and after a while started to feel better and was socializing a bit better as i went back to college. not until around 4 years later when i relised that something was so wrong & i just coundn't fit in and started to isolate again & came out of college. and then my mum found a book on Aspergers and said that this sounded like me and when i read it, it was just amazing that i never realised the condition before,. i could relate to a lot of things & then got myself checked up. i was at first diasgnosed with OCD, but somehow the doctors knew more to it, and after endless sessions with doctors, i was at last diagnosed with Asperger Syndrome. so yes, depression for me was caused by my aspergers without me knowing it before.

No one knew what was wrong with me for a ong time. They did everything they could but the word aspergers was never mentioned. I hadn't even heard of it until my life was going off track with many hospitalizations from suicidal attempts.

I definitely was diagnosed with depression and knew I had it. I don't totally blame depression from my aspergers but the consequential feelings I had for a long time with these struggles of socializing and making friends. I was a very lonely person and tried so hard to "fit in".

Well, if it wasn't for my mom, I would've never been diagnosed with AS. She and a friend watched a show about it and looked it up on the internet. They told me about it and said it fit me so well. So I had a diagnosis done on it but never knew what it meant until I heard it was length between autism. I was shocked and the only autism I knew of was of that Rain Man. So for a while my depression was worse. I felt like a rare case til my dad found this site. So I've been doing better now with the depression.

I'm sure among the diagnosis of aspergers and autism, there's a great number of depression depending on upon how serious it is. Whether it's clinical or psychological. I'm sure it can be hard and sometimes unbearable for those who are autistic or have AS since we live in a world that is not adaptive enough to our own needs unless worked with. I enver had speacial schooling or etiquettes of what was socially acceptable as a kid. So it was tough.

IMO, I think it's worse NT or not when you're in your teens. I think it's in this age range where you're pressured into being not only social but to fit into that peer group of social hierarchy. I know that I felt clueless and so different when it came to this. I knew from an early time on, I had trouble adapting to peer language and cues such as body language.

Depression was my first and only consistent diagnosis from my teens; there was a sad malaise that I can recall from about the age of five. AS did not come up until earlier this year, and is still being examined... have adapted in many ways over the years in order to function, albeit not at it's own price - and I think the lows, the sadness, might be one of them. But the depression has been omnipresent, with rare exception, over the course of my life. Keenly aware of not fitting in, not understanding what appeared to be simple while being able to comprehend what stumped others, frustrated by just getting through the day.


M.

I really don't know if I've felt depression or not; some people seem to think I probably do, it's just if I do, I've felt it my whole life.

From the DSM (it seems to be possible in both, but more common in Asperger's as more have "insight" as a whole):