[] Depression and Aspergers []

Post Reply New Topic

I am diagnosed with both Depression and Aspergers.

I am not sure at times which one affects me more or how they coincide.

I am in treatment (meds) for Depression and have been for many years; It does not always help.

I work from home and am fortunate that I do not have to deal with the stress of being around others or in the crowded city (New York). But even working from home, when I feel depressed/anxious, I can barely cope at times.

My mind feels "stuck", that is (and it's very difficult to explain) I feel like I cannot move forward with responsibilities and I feel frozen. I feel this right now.

I just had to express this.

Thanks,
Matthew

I also have both Depression and Asperger's. I'm sure that my depression is a lot harder for me to deal with, than my AS. When I go to my clubhouse and hang out for a few hours, I feel drained. If I stay home and listen to The Kinks (my special interest) for the same amount of time, I feel energized and rejuvenated.

I'm reading Tony Attwood's book on Asperger's and he says that it's very common for people with AS to have other disorders, including depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc. They don't really coincide, they're "secondary disorders" caused by life difficulties related to your Asperger's. As long as your environment makes your life difficult because of your AS symptoms and limitation the secondary disorders will persist. When/if I get positively diagnosed with AS I will get the hell out of NYC and find a quieter job or seek disability. I'm suffering from anxiety and depression. I can often go from unbearable anxiety to deep depression in a day. No medications work for me long term (tried over 10 so far in several years), the only thing that helps temporarily is tranquilizers and relaxants. Therapy isn't working much either because I get so anxious I can't follow anything the therapist is trying to do or say. I need to get away from triggers that cause my anxiety and depression.

Sounds like an intresting book, though I kind of disagree with the depression/anxiety only being caused by life difficulties because it has been proven that one can be genetically prone to getting depression, anxiety and other disorders. So I imagine some people with AS are more prone to depression then others with AS for instance.

But yes environmental and social factors are important, being in a negitive environment for long periods of time would make anyone feel depressed and since people with AS a lot of times come off as a bit abnormal people are not always so tolerant and thus the environment tends to be negative and contributes to depression.

In studies it could be shown that autistic people have another working amygdala, the same area who is important for anxiety, The amygdala is also bigger in people in depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD.
The same disorders autistic people tend to get more often in their lifes.

I have all three.......though I wonder if I already have PTSD if it's possible for me to get it again or if further tramatic experiances just makes it worse.

My own experience is that PTSD differs in every single trauma with the symptoms, but I you allready have one the symptoms get one thing: worse, but can shift.
For example in my first trauma I had mainly depressions and "pain" and sadness, but in my second trauma I was horryfied and felt terror and fear. But eventhouth the symptoms were different they got wore.
But I don't have to think about my first trauma anymore. I think it has to to with autism and multytasking somehow.

Well what happened to me was during the trammatic experiance I felt nothing at all, and it did not really hit me until a bit later.

I have depression with psychotic features diagnosed, but not Asperger's. I think I probably have 'mild' Asperger's, as well (I stim a lot, have a monotone voice, don't like making eye contact and have bad social skills).

The really low moods are medicated against. It is hell when I have them, though and I wouldn't wish an unmedicated (or wrongly medicated) depression 'low' on anyone. I find SSRIs are worth the side effects just to avoid these really low moods. Mood-wise, I currently exist in a state of anhedonia and slight sadness.

The psychotic features are currently so minor that I don't need anti-psychotics, or qualify for being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. I know when I'm thinking in a paranoid way and I don't freak out when I (occasionally) hear something that isn't there. There have been times in my life when this has been much worse, though.

I hope you get the help you need and find the coping strategies to suit you. I'm currently on the waiting list to see a good therapist. I'm also going to leave my current job, which is bad for my mental health and take a break (I have some money saved up for this) before finding a new one. You deserve the best quality of life you can get and I hope you find it.

Oh man, writing in a foreign language as a dyslexic person isn't that easy, I hope you still can understand, eventhough I make a lot of mistakes I noticed.

Actually that's normal for a trauma.
The symptomes can occour weeks, month or sometimes even years after the trauma.

I have noticed that autistic people get traumas much more easily and that it doesn't go away that fast.
Most traumas in normal people go away by itself. Normaly a trauma lasts for around 3 months, just some traumas stay longer or for the rest of the life. After a half year or latest a year it is a PTSD. It isn't true, that all traumas stay forever, most even don't.

But in autistic people it usually stays longer and get's much more easily chronic.
At least that's what I noticed.

Well I ended up thinking it was no big deal and I could move on and it would not get any worse.......but then after a year of college I started noticing a lot of PTSD symptoms so yeah since then it just seems to have gotten worse. I mean I don't know that i would be doing much better if I did not have those symptoms....but that certainly does not help it makes the sensory overload pretty hellish at times...especially if it involves too much noise or sudden noises, it started with just jumping at sudden noises and feeling anxious for at least a few minutes but now sometimes I end up freezing up like my brain just decides its had enough and then cannot figure out what to do next. this happened in a store yesterday due to construction that was being done there.

Do you have to think a lot about the traumatic incidend?
I actually do and I allways rethink it how I could have avouded it, because I'm afraid that it'll happen again, but my thinking over it doesn't help at all!

Well with those sensory overloads, I know that from normal depressions. Maybe it also has to do something with the trauma taht it got worse, but I got sensory overloads VERY easily when I was depressed.
Depressed people tend to get "overloaded" with little informations and can't handle them. (Different than autistic people of course).
I don't know that enough about trauma that I can tell if it also come JUST from a trauma that sensory overloads can occour from the trauma. Maybe when you are afraid of those noises?
Tony Attwood is writing that autistic people sometimes can get anxoius about noises about the conection of Asperser's and anxiety disorder.
I still have a lot of problems with seonsory overload, but it got better somehow. So it doesn't have to stay that way.
Symptoms can shift.

It's been my experience that my depression was caused by life issues I was dealing with. I was on meds for 5 years(I tried lots of different psych meds) & didn't start feeling better till I started wearing myself off the meds. Taking steps to improve my life & joining WP & learning more about my AS & understanding myself better helped pull me out of the ending stages of my depression. I've had lots of anxiety issues all my life & I think they were caused by my AS & other disabilities & things I was dealing with. I started taking an anxiety medication a couple months ago because I was acting really needy & clingy with my girlfriend & I was having panic attacks: I'm doing a lot better on it but I still think the anxiety was originally a learned thing. I'm hoping that I could be OK without the med eventually after more things improve in my life & I gain more confidence & learn to trust more but I don't think I should stop it anytime soon unless I start noticing side-effects

I believe many people who think they are depressed are actually just sad about something.
If you lose your job or a friend, or if you break up with a boyfriend - these are all events in life that can make us sad, which is a completely NORMAL feeling. To much of psychiatry today is about drugging the natural feelings out of people, like being sad or lonely.

I suffer from a once a year Depression that comes over me between Thanksgiving and New Years. I think all the marketing and ads make me feel worse about my situation, which makes me sadder.

Perhaps people with high-functioning Autism/Aspergers are so aware of their peculiarities and social problems that it makes us depressed or sad feeling. Being highly intelligent means that you know how you "should" be in this society, compared to how you really are!
In other words, the more we know about the world, the more we see how truly different we are.
I struggle with that feeling a lot but as I learn more, read more and participate in these forums more.... I seem to be feeling better about my situation and have become proud of the individual that I am.

**Being without a friend or boyfriend, being unemployed and broke... these things make us sad, but not depressed!