Change causes depression?

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Earlier on in the year, I made some pretty big changes in my life - assumed the GFCF (look it up) diet, took up going to church, started a tricky IT course - and shortly after I began to fell into depression; it started light, becoming progressively more intense with time.

I got rid of all those things, and I'm feeling better now.

It bears asking now, though... is change enough to cause an autist like you and me to become depressed? Is it the mere fact of the change, or does it depend on how compatible that change is with who we personally are?

I appreciate any and all insight.

For me it does. I find this to be one of the most irritating and debilitating aspects of AS.

I think it's well known that change causes emotional turmoil of some sort.

If you win the big lottery here, they give you a cheque and a psychologist, on the spot. No kidding.

Maybe it would be easier to make one change at a time.

I have heard that change is harder on people with autism. That's my experience. It helps to remember it.

Yes. Generally we have already spent a good deal of our lives making tweaks in order to find the path of least resistance psychologically. So, most changes are going to add disorder of some kind, and/or negate parts of what you have already put in place before the change.
Multiple changes can have both cumulative and synergistic effects, - that is causing depression or anxiety, or both. I have both.

Obviously, how much the effect is depends on the nature of the change in relation to your previous state of living.

Most changes naturally both increase complexity of a system, and increase disorder.
I really sense these things, and I'm quite sensitive to the effects.