Major Depression and Autism

This is a though provoking article I found on the relationship between depression/bipolar and autism in families.

We have an abundance of mental illness in our families. Depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder seem to hit four out of five relatives in both my family and E's family. Very curious.

I suspect that some sort of neurological link exists. We know that depression and schizophrenia are manageable with medication. I suspect autism and "mental illness" might actually have some co-occrance and that the variation of manifesstations off autism and aspergers might result from the inteaction of a differently wired brain and plus variations in the levels and functioning of various neurotransmitters.

Could it be that our understanding of personality is not of a disease process,  but of a natural process created by gentic variation straight from our parents? Maybe.  It would be wonderful to relable "personality disorders" as some sort of a variation attributed to brain structure and processing.  For those who are social impared, or rather feel that there quality of life is impacted by their way of doing things ther could be wonderful news.  you could learn new ways of doing things more adaptive ways to funtion while at the same time maintaining your own specific gifts.  i think that this needs to be up to the individual to decide unless he or she is so impared that they present a danger to themselves or others.

Psychiatric disorder and the broad autism phenotype: evidence from a family study of multiple-incidence autism families.

Piven J, Palmer P.

Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa College of Medicine, Iowa City 52242-1000, USA. joseph-piven@uiowa.edu

Abstract

This is a very interesting article that I found on the familial relationship between depression/bipolar and autism.

OBJECTIVE: Several studies have shown familial aggregation of some axis I psychiatric disorders in families ascertained through a single autistic proband. In this study the authors examined the rate of axis I psychiatric disorders in nonautistic relatives from multiple-incidence autism families and the possible relationship of these disorders to the broad autism phenotype.
METHOD: The rates of axis I psychiatric disorders, assessed by using semistructured and family history interviews, were compared in parents, grandparents, and aunts and uncles ascertained through 25 families of multiple-incidence autism probands and 30 families of probands with Down's syndrome. The possible association between selected psychiatric disorders and the broad autism phenotype, assessed directly through semistructured interviews and observational rating measures, was also examined in the two groups of parents.
RESULTS: The parents of the autistic probands had significantly higher rates of major depressive disorder and social phobia than the parents of the Down's syndrome probands. The high rate of depression in the parents of the autistic probands was consistent with the high rates of depression and anxiety detected in the grandparents and aunts and uncles in the autism families by family history. There was no evidence of an association, within individuals, between either depression or social phobia and the broad autism phenotype.
CONCLUSIONS: Relatives of autistic individuals have high rates of major depression and social phobia that are not associated with the broad autism phenotype and cannot be explained by the increased stress associated with raising an autistic child. Alternative mechanisms and the scientific and clinical implications of these findings are discussed.