What is the source of depression in people with autism?

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I know we won't be able to answer the question here, but I'd like to know everybody's thoughts and theories.

Personally, I think depression in autistic people is MOSTLY caused by "learned helplessness," similar to Martin Seligmann's depressive dogs. To not be able to get away from a noxious situation, to not be able to get any sympathy for problems, to not be able to communicate both expressively and receptively, could be the stressor similar to a shock in an electrified cage as per the Seligmann theory.

Secondarily, the effect of being blamed, bullied, and tormented, even by close relatives and other important figures in our lives, interferes with personality development so the autistic person can never develop a healthy sense of self, further increasing the number of adverse events.

So these kinds of causes, I suggest, are more prominent as causes of co-morbid depression, than is a biological (genetic) contribution.

The above synopsis yields testable hypotheses that might give more productive mental health treatment to prevent or reduce depression in autistics.

What does anybody think?

I can speak for myself. The source of my depression is overload. I become depressed when I am so overwhelmed and overloaded and I cannot recover. For instance, having to deal with so many issues at once that my brain is not equipped to deal with is overwhelming. I ask for help and the people who should be helping me tell me to do the things myself because I am so "high functioning." So I don't have a choice. I have to do them even though they are completely damaging to me. Trying to do all of these things literally causes me to go into a neurological overload shock. But I have to keep pressing on because I am so "high functioning" that no one is willing to do the things that I ask them to do in order for me to get the help I need to accomplish all the tasks that I am expected to do. The things I ask are not unreasonable or difficult, people are just unwilling because they don't fit into the predetermined social boxes that everyone has created.

So that constant overwhelmedness and my inability to succeed at the tasks that I am expected to succeed at and then people blaming me for me not succeeding and just telling me I am lazy or whatever excuse they come up with, makes me fall into deep depressions. But even in these deep depressions I have to keep going and try to accomplish all the tasks anyway because I don't have a choice. Since I don't qualify for the actual help that I need because I am so "high functioning" If I don't find a way to do these important things they don't get done and then I really suffer. So constantly putting my mind an body through this kind of agony and never being able to recover is what makes me have depressions.

I don't need treatment, I need help. If I were mentally ret*d, people would just accept that there are things that I can't do and that I should not be expected to have to do and they would just help me. But because I look so much like an nt, I am expected to be able to do everything that a person of my chronological age is expected to do without any help or accommodations. And I am expected to do all this on top of the extreme sensory challenges that I have. And those can't be dealt with therapy either because they are physiological and neurological not trauma based. But because I am articulate, athletic, and intelligent, none of my challenges are taken into consideration and I am forced to do all kinds of things that I have no business doing. That is the bottom line.

I figure it's the feeling of seclusion. It's harder for us to connect with other people, and our oddness makes us feel separated from the world at large. But we're still human and need connection and inclusion to thrive.

I don't suffer from depression. But I grew up in a family with a dad who encouraged oddness, a mom with aspie-like traits, and an older brother with Asperger's. And all my siblings and I stuck out already for being smart. And we shared a sense of humor. I fit into my family just fine, and outsiders did not.

The times I do feel somewhat depressed are when I feel disconnected from my friends and have doubts as to whether they like me or whether I'm being a bother.

I agree with both of your hypotheses, Bea, and the other posters have also raised some very good points.

I would also add (possibly as an extension of the second hypothesis in the OP) the effect of masking on personality development. As an autistic child, one tries to adapt ones behaviour to the social environment, just like any other. But we don't realise at that age that we are learning and implementing these behaviours in a different way to our peers, and have no way to recognise that, at least in part, others are motivated by meeting their own desires, whereas we might be motivated more by trying to conform to an abstract, rule-based model of "correctness" at odds with our own unrecognised needs. This can be completely internalized even in the absence of overt bullying etc. because we believe that we're only doing the same as everyone else is doing, and it gets carried through into the rest of our lives; blindly accepting that not rocking the boat for other people always comes before our own desires. You can see this here, in the occasional threads along the lines of "I'm trying to stop masking since diagnosis, but I don't really know who the person under the mask is any more."

Also, when talking about depression in autistic people, I think we need to be especially careful that what we are identifying really is depression. When I am in a burned out state, where my mind simply needs rest because it has been over-worked, my observable behaviour can look very like that of a depressed person (avoidance, flat affect, poor self-care etc.) Undoubtedly, this state can lead to depression, especially if the necessary rest is not forthcoming; but having experienced both, I see a definite distinction between them. This has ramifications for counselling and other treatments. When in a burned-out, partially shut down state, counselling can impose too much of an additional emotional and cognitive burden, such that it actually causes that state to persist longer. I have found that CBT can be an effective form of therapy for me, but it has often come at the wrong time; too soon after a crash, when I'm too overloaded to communicate effectively with the therapist and the exercises are too cognitively demanding.

Agreed. If my parents had been told back in the 1960s that I was autistic, their low expectations of me would have been even lower, and I would have grown up believing that there was no hope, and that I should not waste any effort in trying to prove them wrong. Likely, by now I would be one of those people starting multiple threads about how lonely, stupid, and ugly I am, and blaming everything and everybody else for my own lack of initiative.Agreed. Fortunately, since none of the people who kept putting me down could provide any 'proof' that I was hopelessly 'disabled', I never believe them when they told that I was a stupid and ugly creep.I have to wonder how many kids these days are victims of the "Forrest Gump Syndrome" -- the one where he had to wear braces on his legs for so long that he never realized that he could run until he was forced to run for his life. Or the real-world kid who was told at the age of 6 that he had a bad heart, and spend most of his childhood not playing outside with the other kids until he had to "run for his life" to get away from bullies.

My grandma had a dog that she used to put the leg of a kitchen chair through the loop of its leash. That poor puppy grew up believing that if the leash was attached to the chair, it couldn't go anywhere. Imagine a big adult dog (130-150#) laying next to a flimsy kitchen chair, and not moving until someone lifted the chair off its leash -- that dog could have easily dragged that chair across the county, but it had been trained from a pup to believe that it was too weak.

I gotta wonder how many of the members here are actually disabled, versus how many members here were only brainwashed into believing that they're disabled.

I feel, frequently, that depression in autism is caused by feelings of futility and hopelessness.

People with autism sometimes feel their progress is stymied by that autism. This leads to a “surface” anger, which masks the underlying depression which emanates from futility and hopelessness.

You see this sort of thing frequently on WP.

In other words, you feel that depression is caused by depression.

me?


lack of acceptance and being treated like an alien regardless of how hard you try to appear normal and to fit in, every single day


IMO if people leave you alone, you're doing good enough.

It’s frustration leading to depression. Leading to anger and stubbornness, leading to more depression.

A vicious cycle. Whirlpools. Leading ever more downward.

Bea Arthur, I agree with your list of explanations. Nonetheless, I think you missed out what's possibly the most significant one, i.e. loneliness and the lack of a strong emotional connection with others. Whilst that may not be the case with all aspies I think it is for many, and certainly is for me.

This is a marvelous analogy.


I wonder whether that's related to this chart. https://i.imgur.com/CiGMEl8.png Non-christians with Asperger's are significantly more likely than others to be depressed, but Christians with Asperger's shows no difference.

I think there are many areas which could be explored as a source of depression for people with ASD.

Loneliness and isolation are indeed very dangerous states to be in for a lengthy time.

Suffering can come from many places and in many forms.

There are different types of depression and also, as pointed out, it could be burnout which has implications for recovery and support needed.

Being able to be yourself and live in the world on your own terms seems to be practically impossible for most of us.

When our power and control is taken away or worse, we give it away, then where does that leave us?

If we are pushed aside as different and not given the nurturing and love we deserve it is no wonder so many of us get depressed.

I thank you Bea for starting this thread as it is so important.

I thought clinical depression was a result of brain chemistry. Which is why selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used to treat depression.

There is a lot I could feel depressed over regarding my significant autism and cerebral palsy like dyspraxia. But I guess since I don't have a brain chemistry problem I am not depressed most of the time? I am usually pretty happy most of the time. Although I can see someone saying that if they had my problems they would eat a bullet.

Wow, Trogluddite, you summed up my situation so perfectly. I can 100% confirm that this is one possible road that can lead to being clinically depressed. At some point I realized that every single thing I ever did, every achievement I had dedicated myself to, was me convincing myself I wanted to do them just because that seemed to be what society told me I should want. Just because you follow what other people say doesn't mean it's not your decision, but it makes you seriously question whether you actually ever wanted anything for yourself. I'm not sure, but I think that it is very difficult to find happiness by doing things unless you actually truly believe in it yourself.

But as a note, I understand this probably applies to a limited amount of people on the spectrum. The points on bullying, isolation, stress burnout and lack of human connection are much more common and extremely accurate identifications.



I think for some people it comes naturally and they have it their whole life (genetic), but it can also be caused by environmental problems whether persistent or acute, or, of course, a combination of both.

I'm sorry I don't have any astute analyses to make. What I can say is that as a sufferer from a number of mental illnesses, I feel a strong sense of general futility and frustration. Thus far my short life has been a chain of major mistakes and failings. What other posters have mentioned about social needs despite being impaired in that regard chimes with me as well.

I’m with BeaArther on this one. Word for word she described what I’ve thought but couldn’t put to words. Words are hard.