Question: I was diagnosed in 2004 with autistic spectrum disorder, since then my life has been an ever changing rollercoaster, having had depressive episodes several times in the past couple of years. My most recent episode which is on-going stems onwards from last year in May time when I elected to start taking Sertraline which is a medication I have taken in the past. I have begun to note that my patterns have been quite erratic - one second I'm filled with the enthusiasm to pull myself out of a pit of despair and the next I cannot muster the energy to grab for the ladder that either I or someone has set in place. I feel at times this problem is exaggerated by myself in fact and I honestly feel like I'm going in circles each time I try to muster up the courage to try.

I am worried if this may be something other than my autism. I am referred to as a high-functioning autistic adult who can integrate with my peers given substantial acknowledgement of my condition and myself as a person. I note a particular sensory overload aspect with regards to sound and sight - say for example, at night I will have an uncontrollable buzz of anxiety from the shop and back likely to the dark nature of night time in its colour and the sound of cars when I elect not to distract myself with audio from an electronic device. Another example, more on the overload part is where for example I am met with a crowd, the feeling is akin to that of thousands of keyboards typing all at once in a small office space and I am a receptor picking up all these clicks, it's almost maddening.

I have no close family, my mother is reliant on alcohol at times and is less understanding of my situation or my medical conditions seeing it off as almost if it was a phase. I apologise if this is long-winded but I thought to give as much information could to gatgher a picture together.