How old were you when you first had symptoms of a mental illness?

Altho I didnt become "aware" of it until I was 18... and didnt get any diagnosis til then...Docs have siad b/c I was always in survival mode... But It has been determined that it started as young as 4 for me....

I was always a little different as a kid. I was never a "cuddly" baby, I distanced myself from my parents after my sister was born, and I was reading by the time I was four. Throughout elementary school I had motor skills and coordination issues, and I didn't grasp social concepts at all.

I think if I had acted up, if my parents couldn't handle me so exceedingly well, I would have been diagnosed autistic or something similar.

While I wasn't diagnosed with anything like autism, I WAS diagnosed with depression. I don't know when, but it's always been there.

As long as I can remember I've had a strange recurring symptom of depression. Through the years I've been able to describe it a little better.

It's a momentary, overwhelming sadness that feels like a mixture of regret, nostalgia, and homesickness. In these moments I find it hard to speak, and my movements are slow. I've never met anyone else who has experienced this. It doesn't come about by any thought process, it's completely random, and during it, I concentrate on what I'm feeling so I can try to describe it.

It still comes about every once in a while, though I'm quite content most of the time.

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magasanguis said:

It's a momentary, overwhelming sadness that feels like a mixture of regret, nostalgia, and homesickness. In these moments I find it hard to speak, and my movements are slow. I've never met anyone else who has experienced this. It doesn't come about by any thought process, it's completely random, and during it, I concentrate on what I'm feeling so I can try to describe it.

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Actually - I think that is a really good description that fits me also. I had a hard time saying "I'm depressed" because it isn't every waking moment when i feel it. but when i do, it overrides all other things. and then it passes. Not to say I'm really happy the rest of the time, but i get by.

I was around 9 years old when I had my first suicide attempt. My mother chalked it up to being an attention seeking device and refused to get me help. No matter how many attempts I had she would always, I MEAN ALWAYS try to handle it herself instead of getting me any real help. I would not get the help I needed until I was around 14 and that was because she was FORCED by the school system to find me a therapist and psychiatrist. Mom was totally against it, but relented when a huge court case involving neglect took place. I would eventually be placed in a foster home, but that is another story for another time.
I sometimes wonder if I would have gotten treatment when I first developed symptoms would my symptoms be less severe now? By the way, I am still angry with mom for ignoring my problems and forcing to suffer for so long in silence.

I was 11 when I first felt depressed and 13 when I first tried to do suicide so I guess the answer is 11.

I had symptoms around middle school age or possibly even earlier, but no one noticed. Symptoms became more prevelant in high school, and I struggled thru college with no treatment. I felt I could not seek help until I was no longer on my parents' medical insurance. I was finally diagnosed at age 23.

last year. I was 13.

neurological problems at infancy....psychological problems startedo n my first day in school when a teacher embarassed me in front of my classmates.