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Anti depressants?

Song
over 6 years ago

I'm struggling, in truth i have been struggling for a very long time, I think most of us do. My GP has me on anti depressants and anti anxiety tablets they don't do much for me at all. 

Is there anything that does help? I think that my depression is not depression but part of my autistic spectrum thing. Assuming that it is asd not depression is there anything that can make it any better? I am not sure that I can cope for much longer.

Parents
  • over 5 years ago

    Specific ASD Cognitive Behavioural Therapy could help and it’s worth speaking with your GP. You may find support from a local ASD group or local Trust. Depression and Anxiety are treated as generic mental illnesses however, they are very different in ASD and need specific responses.

    Anti-Depressants can be of help and it sometimes takes time to get the right medication. There is no research a such as to which medication works best for ASD related depression but it may be that your yet to find the right Anti-Depressant for you.

  • over 5 years ago in reply to Atypical
    Atypical said:
    Depression and Anxiety are treated as generic mental illnesses however, they are very different in ASD and need specific responses.

    Yes, I totally agree with this. I have had both non-specific and autism-specific CBT since autism was first suggested as the root of my mental health problems (though, at that time, not yet officially confirmed.) This was by fortune more than by design - the counsellor that I was originally assigned remembered having a colleague with the additional training and arranged a case swap.

    The difference in the counselling was quite profound, as was the contrast between previous counselling which actually made me feel worse about myself because of its ineffectiveness, and the very obvious benefits of the specific counselling. Most notably, the specific counsellor was able to help me with my alexithymia (poor emotional cognition), which had previously always been attributed to either apathy, aversion, or even wilful lack of cooperation. You can find a short article where I contrasted these experiences in more detail in this thread.

    The major difficulty is with accessing specific counselling, which I'm currently trying to do again. Very few CAMHS teams offer this service, and to access non-profit/NGO providers may require discretionary funding from your GP's CCG, or funding via disability benefits or social services. However, if there is any way at all to obtain access, I strongly recommend that people do so.

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  • over 5 years ago in reply to Atypical
    Atypical said:
    Depression and Anxiety are treated as generic mental illnesses however, they are very different in ASD and need specific responses.

    Yes, I totally agree with this. I have had both non-specific and autism-specific CBT since autism was first suggested as the root of my mental health problems (though, at that time, not yet officially confirmed.) This was by fortune more than by design - the counsellor that I was originally assigned remembered having a colleague with the additional training and arranged a case swap.

    The difference in the counselling was quite profound, as was the contrast between previous counselling which actually made me feel worse about myself because of its ineffectiveness, and the very obvious benefits of the specific counselling. Most notably, the specific counsellor was able to help me with my alexithymia (poor emotional cognition), which had previously always been attributed to either apathy, aversion, or even wilful lack of cooperation. You can find a short article where I contrasted these experiences in more detail in this thread.

    The major difficulty is with accessing specific counselling, which I'm currently trying to do again. Very few CAMHS teams offer this service, and to access non-profit/NGO providers may require discretionary funding from your GP's CCG, or funding via disability benefits or social services. However, if there is any way at all to obtain access, I strongly recommend that people do so.

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