Depression and Dyslexia.

[Confused]

I could be barking up completely the wrong tree here but...

Has anyone ever heard of a link between Depression and Dyslexia?
I was diagnosed with Dyslexia when I was 6 and have struggled with it ever since. Now I am struggling with Depression as well and am trying to find the root of it all. Looking back on early life is uncovering some issues and reasons but I can't help but think that a huge part of the depression comes from the struggles I had with Dyslexia. I read somewhere that there may be a link between the two. Does anyone know anything? Or does anyone here have dyslexia as well?

[Shenanigans]

Hi confused, I think that there is a link between dyslexia and social aspects of depression. i also have dyslexia, and as far as i know it does effect the way you think. Not allways in a bad way. You may find you are good at problem solving and you may be realy creative, but expressing yourself is where it gets a little more difficult, especaly when it comes writing things down. I love maths but im not very good at arithmetic. however i have made some complicated math algorithms using algebra on my computer and made some beautiful Maldelbrot images and even worked out how to compute a bizer curve. part of the problem with dyslexia is that alot of people feel un-confident about themselves and that can cause social problems. I allways found being with more people than myself and one other, i do feel like im the stupid one.

the way i see it is i struggles with my english in school, my writing wasnt neet and complecated words didnt compute untill i learned them out of school, so when people were talking and using words that i didnt understand becaus ei was still mastering the more frequently used ones, i slowly pushed myself into my own little world because there conversation didnt make scence to me. my own little world may have fed on other things in my life. Yes im sure dyslexia is one thing that cintributes to developement of depression. but is not a cert that dyslexia sufferes will get it.

onother way to see it is people at school can be realy nasty to you about it, weather they understand it or not, this also knocks confidence and tightens the little bubble.

Good topic :)

[Confused]

Thank you,

I found an interesting article about Dyslexia which actually makes a lot of sense.

http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/Alternative_Education/Defeat_Dyslexia52007.asp

I think my depression developed beacuse of years of bullying and taunting at school. That saying 'Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me' is a loads of rubbish.  It hurts and it hurts so much.
I actually can't believe I am writing this on here, I never tell anyone how I feel but for some reason it seems ok here because everyone is in a similar situation. I do blame the dyslexia, I blame it for everything. Anyway, enough, sorry, I'm blabbering!

[SocialServicesFighter]

Interesting subject this.

Something 'overshadowing' your past, or at least, something big that happened in your past that still effects you today, is definitely worth talking about when depression is a factor in your life.

My own situation is quite the opposite to dyslexia.
To change the subject slightly, I'm not dyslexic but I can totally relate to being bullied for being different, and being looked at differently at school.
I'm English, but I grew up in northern Scotland in Forres, and due to having a higher IQ than those in my year, I was put up a year, making me younger than everyone else in my classes.

Up there, people, especially the kids, are very proud of their heritage. So to have a weedy, curly haired English kid, with bottle top glasses and who's younger than everyone else is asking for trouble.
It took about seven years of constant bullying (physical and mental) both from the kids and even from the teachers before I snapped and fought back.

I still, to this day think about the suffering I was subjected to up there.

Ok, mine is being ridiculed and pushed around for something completely different to dyslexia, but, I think the situation of being ridiculed for being different to everyone else as a child certainly rings true.

Unless you've been through it yourself, you can never really understand how much it can hurt or how long it can last.

I was told by a friend of mine, a long time ago: "A bully only dies once. Those being bullied die a thousand times. So who is the better person for it?"

[Shenanigans]

Great article confused. it realy makes sense. and it does relate to what i said quite well. well worth thr read.

[MINDFUL HELP]

This is a really interesting thread! Apologies in advance if this topic has already been covered 

Personally I do think there can be a link between depression and dyslexia. Main reasons are because lots of people with dyslexia usually can lack low self esteem, low confidence, frustration which leads to anger or upset which therefore leads to depression. When you look at it closely,  if you are unable to decode what you have read or can't spell certain words, or lack the comprehension in understanding what you have read, this can cause lots of problems as stated above. It is possible for people with dyslexia that you can decode words but lack the comprehension. There's nothing worse than trying to understand something you have read and simply don't get it no matter what.

Also, I wonder if people (children especially) were bullied if others knew that they had problems? I remember when I was at primary school being kept back the same year whilst my friends moved up a year, I was only 8 but I was horrified and just thought i was "thick" and others did too, however I wasn't bullied luckily, but I wonder if others were if thats the case then this could cause depression.

There's all sorts of symptoms with dyslexia, getting your letters and words back to front, having difficulty in remembering things (short term memory) you could go on! But linking it with depression is a possibility... I say that because if someone is suffering from depression it's important to look at all possible factors.

There are coping strategies with dyslexia, I've always found to remember things in pictures which helps or word association for example... if you need to remember something such as a numbers... say numbers 9, 1, 5 and 10 then 9 I would remember cats (because cats have 9 lives) 1 could be tree because tree could look like a 1, 5 could be glove (five fingers) and 10 could be ten pin bowling hope that makes sense!

It's a small example but could help. CBT could also work too for example, if you are trying to spell or read something it's very easy to get angry or frustrated. In reconising this and halting this by looking at it from another angle and training yourself to become a problem solver, it can avoid you becoming upset or angry and ultimately leading to depression. It's not easy to begin with hence why you need to practice or get help!

This is a great thread!