Cycle of depression and autism 7yrs old boy

Post Reply New Topic

Hi!
I'm new here , I am a mom to a 7 years old boy with mild autism and probably adhd. He does fine in shool and have friends , every year in january , he starts having meltdowns like almost every day at home and sometimes at school and seems to hate himself..I feel so bad seeing him so unhappy . This period lasts about 2 months and then he tells me he s ok and stops.I would like to help him overcome his anger but I dont know what to do. What to tell him , how should I behave with him.. I am afraid he grows up hating himself and want him to see how wonderful he is.If someone can also explain why this happens and what is going on in his head during this period.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!
ISABEL

The thing that comes to mind is seasonal affective disorder (SAD) since this is worse at the winter months (as you said January). Not enough sunlight to the eyes can cause depression. If you are a darker skinned person living in more Northern regions, you are more at risk for this because you have more pigment in the eyes to block the light and the farther North you are the weaker the sun's rays are. If you are darker skinned, you need more light exposure because you eye pigment impedes light. Fair-skinned people don't have as much pigment because their ancestors lived in northern regions where the sunlight was weaker and so do not have as many problems with getting enough light where they live to prevent depression from weaker sunlight. Darker-skinned people's ancestors come from more equatorial regions where the sun's rays are stronger and so the people have more pigment as protection. Move a light-skinned person to equatorial regions and they will get sunburned, have more aging of the skin, and more rim of skin cancer. Move a dark-skinned person to a more northern area where light is weaker and they can develop low vitamin D and depressive symptoms due to the weaker light. Some people have SAD reactions regardless of skin tone.

I think a relative of mine has this lamp made for people with SAD. I know she has SAD but I am not sure if it was her who had this lamp or if I just saw it advertised and thought of her.

Did you ever find out why he starts having those meltdowns starting in January. You might want to look into what's changing in his environment around that time of the year.

While this isn't a be-all-end-all solution, I think fostering acceptance is important. Teaching a child that autism isn't a defect, but a unique set of strengths and weaknesses will show your child he has nothing to be ashamed of and will improve his self-confidence.

Could he be struggling to re-adjust to school after Christmas?