Location and Depression.

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Can location have a severe affect on one's mood? Most of you are already familiar with my extreme depression. I've been living in the same town all my life (more like a small city without the benefits of a city.) I was picked on severely K through 12 and in college as well. In high school, I'd go to the library during lunch and people would follow me and say "What's a matter NilesCrane, no one to sit with?" Harassed is the better word for how I was treated.

Anyway, my parents and brother always say I live in the past...but that's pretty easy to do considering the past is the present...meaning I still live 5 minutes away by foot from the school where everything happened. I even overheard my mom say to my dad the other day "We have to get him out of here" (Meaning the area.)

At my dad's work, without getting into too much personal business, there's major decisions to be made in May. They could close the place down or they could offer him early retirement or a number of things. And my parents, especially my mom, are convinced that it will likely end with him either leaving the job or losing the job and a subsequent move.

What I'm wondering is, how much of a negative/positive affect can location play on one's mood? My city is very dark. I like in an "ok/safe" neighborhood, but the city itself is very un-picturesque and lots of crime and not much to do in the way of activities or jobs anyway. And in the area in general people are quite snobby.

I was driving by this rural area of a nearby town and there was a church off in the distance, and I felt so relaxed and peaceful for that second.

I also noticed that even going to Kennebunk, Maine (if you've never been there, it's very beautiful, good seafood, but very boring/not much to do) put me in a good mood...let alone the Virginia Beach/Orlando trip I went on with my brother a year and a half ago.

The traveling was one of the only things that's made me feel "alive"...just knowing that there are different areas that look better and where people are in general nicer.

I've been in one small area in general, not just my city, for my whole life...and I've grown tired of it.

So I guess what I'm wondering from you guys is, how much will (if we do in indeed move) the move affect my mood for the better? Obviously I'll still have Aspergers/Depression...but is my mom right, is the hopelessness that "I'm seemingly stuck here forever" doing me in at the moment?

I havent read all your post admittingly cause my fathers being a pain in the ass and annoying me to meltdown point. but Yes, location can have a sevear effect on ones mental health.
For example i am from the bright hot humid and sunny North Coast of Australia (Darwin, Northern Territory).
I spent two years in Germany where i suffered from sevear depression, especially in the dreary dark winters. They were cold and bitter with less than 8 hours of sunlight.

Nothing was the same there nor could anyone or would anyone even attempt to relate to me. I was a forreigner in a forreign country. Anyways, when my father stops being an ass i will come back and read your whole post and make a better reply. =/

That's a really difficult question. My OH (also Aspie, we now know) has suffered serious depression for all of her adult life. Some of our (frequent) moves have been spurred by her sense that 'everything will be OK if I can just get away from here': it has worked for a year or two, then the wave of depression has caught up with her again. So it's tempting to say that depression is usually something within us - an illness, in other words - though often with an element of our situation and how we respond to it emotionally. I suppose you could say that a person with depressive tendancies will tend to respond to the inevitable negatives of any situation in a depressive kind of way.

But... you do sound like a very intelligent but very bored kind of guy, and I know from my own experience that one can extract all the possibilities from a particular situation and end up pretty bored. I love where I now live in the depths of the French countryside, but I know that without access to the wider world via the internet I'd go bonkers. Accepting all that I've said above, I think it's still a fact that boredom is inherantly depressing, so it seems likely to be a factor in your depression.

I'm not an expert, so won't dare to offer an 'answer' to your question! But it might help if you could think through what it is that your present location prevents you from doing or achieving. An answer to that question might help you to discern the extent to which boredom is a factor in the depression that is pulling you down. And if you do go from there, it will be important to feel that you are going forward to do something concrete, not simply going (running?), to escape from something negative.

Hope that helps a little.

Moving town or city has often given me stimulation. It seems to wake my head up. I tend to get bored easily and will start to feel depressed if I stay too long in one place.

It may work for you, it may give you a kick. At the very least it will give you some kind of perspective if it is the first time you have moved.

All I know is, when I took that trip with my brother to Orlando/Virginia Beach (11 day trip) I felt really alive for one of the only times in my life...the airports...chatting with cab drivers...seeing new areas...going to different stores/restaurants, it made me feel alive. The trip itself got pretty old after a while (I wouldn't suggest doing a 2 location/11 day trip)...even though Virginia Beach, the second destination, was really nice, we were getting tired of the traveling in general.

I know life isn't supposed to be a party, but the city I currently live in has nothing to offer me but the band I'm in. And the problem with the band I'm in is that everyone but me is really busy and only has 1 day a week, if that, to rehearse. (The good part of the band is we're all good friends/get along personality wise and musically.)

I actually tend to prefer countryside type areas...beautiful scenery and such. I'm hoping my parents take that into account (it would be good for them too as this is almost an early retirement for both of them.)

I also know that the random countryside type areas there are in local towns have made me feel the way people claim being in love feels...just off in another world.

Don't mean to be literal but it should make you feel like "you are going somewhere", plus making a move will allow your mind to feel confident about making moves in the future. Moving can be a great thing for Aspies, because we often don't feel attached to people we can easily move around.

I am not saying it is a good thing all the time, but for me it has usually been good, even if its only temporary.

Being in a new place almost always significantly improves my mood. I need new things to take in to break a depressive solipsistic thought circuit.

nilescrane, I think you should definitely try to go away again, it sounds like it did a world of good for you!

I definitely believe that depression can be environmental and situational and self-reinforcing. Also, do you live somewhere with low light in the wintertime? I find that lack of strong sunlight messes with my mood (SAD - Seasonal Affective Disorder). I should have married rich and have been whisked away to the south of France YEARS ago. Who knew?

I can't afford the South of France because I didn't marry someone rich, but the North of France is certainly proving better for me than damp grey Cornwall!

Don't move to Florida, unless being around other depressed people cheers you up.

Saddest Cities

So much for sunshine being the answer??

Apparently, it's the unemployment rate.

I think it is safe to say environment can play a major role in how you feel......if you're depressed and in a negative environment especially one that brings back bad memories it probably is not very helpful.

Sometimes I have thought that, I definitely feel more active and happier when it's sunny which is rare in England. I am thinking about getting a visa next year and going to the Gold Coast in Australia in the future, it has great beaches and sunshine year round.

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