I've fought with depression for most of my life. I remember writing note in my diary about my sadness, my inability to understand why other people laughed or seemed so happy in regards to everyday things like birthday parties or playing dodge ball on the playground. I was wont to head to the playground alone, long after school was over, to survey the area and recreate the day as I remembered it. I was ever so much happier alone and much more able to think on people and their comments, and their behaviors, when I could manage all that input in my mind, little by little rather than in one big mess of commotion and chaos. I was forlorn. Confused. Struggling to touch the fun I couldn't quite hang on to. Wondering why I seemed separated and apart from the group; a group that actually accepted me for me. Why did people want to play with me, I'd wonder. Why did kids ask me to sit by them at lunch? Of course I know how unusual this is in the autism community. Far too many of my peers didn't have accepting people in their lives. That seems a big enough reason for depression. Why did I have depression when I had so many good things going for me? I didn't use the word "depression" back then. I didn't know it, but I sensed it in every corner. Now, as then, depression remains my nemisis and my Achillies heel.
As a community consultant representing autistics for the American Society of Suicidology, I work to share how difficult, unique and overwhelming depression can be for autistics. Standard treatments and consultations might not (usually don't) work well for us. Practioners are beginning to understand this as they search for better ways to work with us to help us deal with the invisible but oh so real bugs that bite the mind and heart. Yep, bugs. That's my personification for depression- something I'd surely like to send away.
Below is a link for an article on neuroimaging and depression which seeks insight that will supprt personalized treatment plans for autistics who deal with suicidal thoughts and depression. I find the article fascinating and I hope you do, too. It gives me hope that we might finally be on a path for building roads meant for individuals rather than a collective mass.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/brain-scans-could-help-personalize-treatment-people-who-are-depressed-or-suicidal?utm_source=Copy+of+Spectrum+News+%28Daily+Report%29&utm_campaign=232e48996a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_08_22_05_59&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5d6f652fd5-232e48996a-168433661
As a community consultant representing autistics for the American Society of Suicidology, I work to share how difficult, unique and overwhelming depression can be for autistics. Standard treatments and consultations might not (usually don't) work well for us. Practioners are beginning to understand this as they search for better ways to work with us to help us deal with the invisible but oh so real bugs that bite the mind and heart. Yep, bugs. That's my personification for depression- something I'd surely like to send away.
Below is a link for an article on neuroimaging and depression which seeks insight that will supprt personalized treatment plans for autistics who deal with suicidal thoughts and depression. I find the article fascinating and I hope you do, too. It gives me hope that we might finally be on a path for building roads meant for individuals rather than a collective mass.
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/08/brain-scans-could-help-personalize-treatment-people-who-are-depressed-or-suicidal?utm_source=Copy+of+Spectrum+News+%28Daily+Report%29&utm_campaign=232e48996a-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_08_22_05_59&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5d6f652fd5-232e48996a-168433661
RSS Feed
