Your son seems to be the one person in a million, perhaps literally, who is in my particular situation! I figure you and him have pretty much tried everything by this point to get him back to normal, and I understand how it can lead to discouragement. I know what it's like to try and try and try and try and try and try and try, and STILL not succeed, not just at fixing the aforementioned symptoms, but at many goals I would like to accomplish. I say that because I figure he can say the same thing regarding himself.

I am sorry to hear that your son is having a very rough time. As for your son's depression, my advice would be to guard the way he thinks about himself. Having intrusive thoughts, I know well that defeatist and discouraging thoughts are going to pop in his head regardless of whether or not he is wilfully choosing to think on them, but I believe it would make a significant difference if he does not wilfully think such things. Much of the time depression is rooted in the way we think about ourselves and life. I make sure to guard my thoughts and I believe the peace I have regarding my situation is due in large part from this. Doesn't mean I'm thrilled about everything that goes wrong in my life, but I'm not consumed by it.

I was pleased to see your reply and know that there's somebody out there who's in the same boat as I am.

@asdmom Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. It sounds like you and @klash89 can certainly share common experiences, and they offered some great insight.

I think that for many of us on the autism spectrum also deal with depression of some sort. It may come from feeling we are so different, how we live, how we view the world, etc. It's hard to get out of that rut, and can take a lot of work. For me, finding something that engages my sense of accomplishment has helped. It reminds me that I can do something.
Ginger

As I said in the initial post, it is likely that my condition is related to hyperstimulation, given the symptoms. Actually, I strongly suspect that is what it is. In case your son has not tried this yet, give relaxation techniques a shot. In particular, guided imagery relaxation exercises can help to temporarily lower intrusive thoughts, which can then make it easier to relax. It did not help to lower my intrusive thoughts, but it might work for him. For people trying to recover from hyperstimulation, it usually takes 3 months of daily practicing relaxation exercises (30 minutes twice daily) to first notice improvement in symptoms. The process can be sped up by pouring in more time for doing it in a day. I'll point out that it's not considered healthy to go for more than 2 hours total of relaxation practice in a day.

In addition, screen use may be playing a role in the progression of his symptoms. I would recommend that he uses the computer, phone, etc. at a low brightness, not for more than 2 hours in a day, and that it not involve much stimulating elements, like rapidly changing colors. Video games in particular can overstimulate someone with ASD. And if you have not tried this yet, abstinence from electronics for a few months should be given a shot (except when using them is necessary), at the same time you try the relaxation techniques.

Bear in mind that I did all of this and it still did not help, but it has helped others with hyperstimulation. If your son does this stuff and still does not improve, tell him that it did not work for me either and that he's not alone. Also, it may be a sign that ASD can complicate hyperstimulation and prevent recovery in a way that the medical community is not yet aware of.

Of course, given the fact that he has probably been in this mess for a long time, y'all may have already tried this stuff. I just wanted to give this advice in case you haven't.