Is depression more common among aspies?

Post Reply New Topic

It seems like a lot of posters on WP aren't satisfied with their lives. So is depression more common among aspies compared with the general population?

I think a lot of Aspie's suffer with depression. I know I do.
I think it's because we have anxiety and tension all the time, and we are always worrying about things.

The short answer is Yes.

There are multiple studies showing dramatically more depression among people with Autism. One study showed suicidal thought prevalence 5 times higher in Autistics then the NT population.

I think we do and the reason is because what our parents and peers put us through. It's the s**t that we're handed on a rusted platter.

Well i have pretty severe ongoing depression, f***ing sucks.

Yes and I believe it has to do with the constant rejection I do not need to rehash my school years but even recently I tried to throw a party and only one guy showed up and I never heard from him again. No matter what I do few peers want to associate with me unless I bend over backwards to please them.

I have made strides and even got a Halloween invite and I still expect to be told to f off when I arrive. A lifetime of exclusion does that to you. Even my brother told me since he is an Atheist if he was terminally ill he would gladly take several people who mistreated me with him and he was not kidding. Yes, it was that bad.

I have undiagnosed severe anxiety, depression and PTSD but good luck finding an "expert" to gets it. A social worker and a caring ER physician were the only ones who clued in.

Several times more common

Is the anxiety vs depression thing kindof like the chicken and the egg?
Most people tell me mine is more anxiety than depression, but my anxiety is depressing me.
But I do have a pretty perfect life other than that.

I've discovered that I have a ruminate -> anxiety -> depression feedback loop. Anxiety can definitely feed the depression which persons with ASD are pre-desposed to.

You have a perfect life? Tell me your secret?

I had the good sense to marry the perfect woman.
I grew up with a single mom, three brothers and a sister. Discipline was very lax and we were all wild animals, uncouth and ill mannered. I grew up playing Atari. playing dungeons and dragons, eating junkfood, and watching TV.
Then God led me to my wife and she was perfect for me.
She loved me and accepted me. Her lifestyle was just simple enough to accept my undisciplined life and unsophisticated manners, but she was good at helping me to expand my horizons and to grow up. I taught her the love of video games. We have a wonderful life together.

Then we had wonderful kids, we have had so much fun with them, then my daughter was diagnosed with Aspergers, and I found out I had it too. Then work got superstressful, but I have to keep reminding myself at the end of the day, I still have a great wife who loves me no matter what
(sorry if too sappy)

Nah, its nice to hear someone say good things about their spouse.

I think one common pattern, with some studies showing physical evidence supporting it, is that chronic anxiety does lead to depression. I can only speak in lay/simplistic terms, but basically the anxiety switch always being on weakens/burns out a brain mechanism that prevents depression.

Its not the only way to get to depression. Just a common one thing leads to another path.

Interesting. I'm not sure if I get depressed because feeling anxious all the time makes me feel exhausted or if anxiety causes me to miss too many opportunities so that later I get driven mad by regret or if I just spend too much time comparing myself unfavorably to other people.

Burnout. Is that why I had burnout? I felt anxious in school and then I felt so tired. I decided I would have a career of sitting on a couch. Now twelve years later I really regret that decision. I want to do something with my life. I just hope I'm not too old.

It usually goes hand in hand. One isn't depressed just as a result from being autistic, but anxiety, poor social/communication skills, not being able to fit in with or understand others, among other such things, they all typically lead to depression. So, in short, yes.

First I have to say, the literature on anxiety and depression is really extensive and there are competing theories on how they are related, caused, etc. One of the factors is that the brain is a extremely complicated electro-chemical machine and new details are being discovered all the time. Even the most advanced supercomputer is simple compared to it. Many of the details of actual operation are still unknown to us.

But this is one general concept of anxiety disorder.

"Believed to be caused in part by a malfunction of brain chemistry, generalized anxiety is not the normal apprehension that one feels before taking a test or awaiting the outcome of a biopsy. A person with an anxiety disorder suffers from what President Franklin Roosevelt called ?fear itself.? For a reason that is only partially known, the brain?s fight-or-flight mechanism becomes activated, even when no real threat exists. Being chronically anxious is like being stalked by an imaginary tiger. The feeling of being in danger never goes away."

The studies I referred to showed that people with anxiety disorders experienced a shrinkage in a specific module of the brain. This module was associated with how humans maintain emotional stability and flexibility - the ability to come back from a negative event -

But I am using simplistic terms (which is the only way I understand it) and it can be misleading. So I meant that this module was in some way being damaged/burnt out, and was not referring to the feeling of burn out.

That said, Burn out may well be a symptom of depression and perhaps others things. People often experience it after extended over-taxing periods.

One common aspect of anxiety and stress is that they over tax your system. Anxiety is supposed to be a short term state that helps you deal with dangers or critical events. It causes certain physiological changes that would help you make a extra effort, like in to survive. But once the danger passes, your body is supposed to go back to a relaxed state. With anxiety disorders you get stuck in that hyper-state more frequently and for extended periods.

It is treatable. There are different approaches. One is meds of course and what I use to satisfactorily treat my anxiety. The reason it works, again in simplistic terms is that it somehow alters the brain chemistry in a way that suppresses anxiety. But I know for a fact what I use, doesn't work for others. Treatment is a very individually tailored thing. If you haven't yet, the best place to start is with a thorough eval by medical professionals. Start with your general doctor and get a referral to a specialist like a psychiatrist or psychologist. They are different but I can never remember how...