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Aspergers & Depression

Depression is one comorbid condition of Aspergers and it is one disorder which is seen in almost every person suffering from Aspergers. This very disorder makes its appearance when the youngster with Aspergers is as young as three years of age and the parents will find that the youngster is prone to crying several times a day. This number can be more than twenty or thirty times in a single day and that too for the most trivial reasons. The youngster is unable to explain as to why he or she is crying as one with Aspergers has a difficulty in expressing their own feelings.

Soon enough it is likely that the youngster will begin to talk about death wishes and all of this will worsen as the youngster is admitted to school and when he or she faces the situation where he or she has to interact socially with the teachers as well as the other students of the same age. This depression can get really aggressive when the youngster might start talking about killing himself or herself or the person on whom he or she gets mad.

It is not very clear as to why Aspergers causes depression in a person but several reasons can come together to bring about the effects. The people who suffer from Aspergers are usually found to have anxiety disorder as well and this can be a reason as to why he or she gets depressed over trivialities. Being anxious all the time can cause a lot of stress and this often leads to depression even in those that do not have Aspergers.

Another reason, that may cause depression in a person with Aspergers, is the realization of being different from the rest of the people that live around them. When a youngster with Aspergers begins to go to school he or she realizes that the other kids can do a lot of things that he or she cannot and they start to feel that they are different. Again they are also unable to express their own feelings which will lead to frustration and gradually to depression for sure. Depression is caused within these kids and adults as they feel that everybody around them speak in a very different language and they also fail to get the social norms which everybody else follows pretty easily.

The best thing which can be done to help these kids and adults with Aspergers to cope with depression is to first know as much as one can about the Syndrome and then allow the youngster or the person to take breaks from school and from work. The youngster might enjoy long walks alone or a visit to the cafeteria and these are to be granted to him by the parents as well as the teachers. The people around the youngster and the adult with Aspergers can also talk with him or her about his or her favorite topic and also narrate funny stories every now and then to keep them at ease and in a jovial mood.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My son has Asperger's. Although the official diagnosis was Anxiety Disorder NOS--his personality, his symptoms, everything mirror those of Asperger's. I have an older son who is fine, but I cannot get him to understand that his brother is "different" and that his brother is not "angry" at him, even though he sounds like it. They are teens, my older son is 17 and my son with Aspergers is 15. And they just stopped communicating altogether. As you can imagine, they are on totally different social levels. My oldest is popular and has many friends. My youngest, has never spent the night anywhere and seems to have one friend, who usually does not speak to him other than on Xbox live. My son acts as if he's in a constant stage of depression. My heart aches when I drop him off at school knowing he has few or maybe no friends and that to him, school is torture. How can I address his depression, frustration and anxiety!??? I'm at my wits end. The father is around, but 'Mark' is left up to me to deal with. He rarely interacts with his father and his father rarely interacts with him.

Anonymous said...

My son, Reed was recently diagnosed with Asperger's.
We live in a small town on the west coast of Florida. Reed has always been
a very bright child, outgoing and very well liked in school until around 8th
grade when we moved him to a different school. His Freshman year he was
bullied terribly and never told anyone until the end of the school year when
he finally reported an incident to the vice principal.

We then sent him to a boarding school on the east coast of Florida thinking
that would be a better environment for him, which turned out to be a huge
mistake. His roommate was a major pot head and he learn how to get high.
They were busted one night and Reed took the fall for the roommate and
impressed the school administration with his honesty so much that they asked
him to return next year. He was bullied there as well and has no desire to
return.

The one good thing about the experience was that Reed started seeing a
therapist there that is known in the area for identifying Asperger's. We
received her diagnosis around February 1st. Reed absolutely hated her and
refuses to take counseling from her. She says she knows of no one on this
coast with the ability to help him.

I started with a family counselor in Sarasota, just trying to get the ball
rolling. We have been moving forward too slowly and she is not convinced he
has Asperger's and she also only wants Reed to come when he wants to attend
sessions. As a result he has only been once and is scheduled again on
Tuesday.

Meanwhile, he seemed to be improving greatly. He is currently home
schooling through Florida Virtual School and is doing very well. A's are
easy with no classroom distractions. He reconnected with a couple kids from
his elementary days and played lacrosse for one of the semi-local high
schools this spring. He also joined a bowling team.

We recently took a trip to California to look at film schools as Reed wants
to be a director or screenwriter. While there he saw an article I had
pulled up on my ipad titled, "How to tell your child he has Asperger's." He
questioned my husband thinking he would get a response about me being over
the top, but instead my husband said, "Yes, I think you have a mild case."
We never sat down with a discussion on the subject. He didn't have much of
a reaction and seemed to be thriving until last night....

Reed has had a terrible cold for the past few days. (After the boarding
school issue, we removed all alcohol and medications from the house.) We
stopped by the drugstore and got some mucinex. Before going to bed I got
the box off the counter to put it away and realized he had taken four
instead of one tablet. A huge fight ensued and Reed ran out of the house
and walked to the next town. We had the local police looking for him and a
cop from the next county brought him home around 4:30am. He told her he was
on zanax and cough syrup. We hugged him and he said he was trying to
medicate himself. We all agreed that he would seek professional help for
medication. After a soak in the tub, I got him tucked in bed and he kept
wanting to find his phone charger, which I had removed from his room. I
knew his phone was dead and he'd be wanting it. After charging, I found a
ton of emails, attempting to buy adderal and zanax online in the last couple
weeks, pot and other substances prior to that. Looks like he was clean
until shortly after lacrosse wrapped the first part of April.

My son has never stormed out of the house like that, it was very scary! He
is clearly depressed and needs immediate help!

Anonymous said...

Lisa Zahn Thank you for sharing this.
3 hours ago · Like
Karen Gomez Vega true....so true for all on the spectrum.
3 hours ago · Like
Lisa Zahn I think depression must be common for us parents, too. It is so hard to see your child struggle.
3 hours ago · Like · 1 person

Anonymous said...

So, depression is common, and I have seen it in my son. So far we have working on 'talking therapy' - avoiding drugs. But he is getting older (now 12) and the recurring depression and black thoughts worry me. What treatments are recommended; what treatments have people used?

Anonymous said...

Denise Cusack In the middle of a rough week with my 8 year old. I am seeing depression for the first time...crying spurts, saying he is worthless, that he doesn't want to live. Poor guy.

Anonymous said...

Lisa Zahn Oh Denise, I am so sorry. Have you tried seeing a homeopath? I think that is our next step. I'd stay on top of this as much as you can.
21 hours ago · Like
Denise Cusack I plan to tweak the vitamins/supplements and yeah, should see a homeopath. See if we can see about some good additions to our plan to help him out a bit. xo

Cathal35 said...

I know boy with Asperger s aged 15 has 2 big rooms of antiques and real stuffed animals his grandfather uncle and boss have been telling him for 2 years he’s bad at this and that he’s useless and what he collects is crap is gotten very depressed and sick

Unknown said...

I have Aspergers my depression started when i was 17 all of it caused by rejection from women I have a very strong hatred of women now and if i can find ways to make one of them suffer i do and it makes me feel happy.

My child has been rejected by his peers, ridiculed and bullied !!!

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