Autistic Wonderland

>>Well, I am going to have her go in 'a depressive state' during a meltdown but since it's still in the early stage, it's not chronic until later on. She shrugs it off as being an autism thing.<<

Whenever you have two different things happening with the same character, with symptoms that overlap somewhat, it can be challenging to distinguish between those things. So toward the end of the story, it might be helpful to discuss the autism and depression specifically. That would also provide a chance to examing the similarities and differences between the two.

>>Also, she does have a favorite teacher and that's her english teacher who is nice to her and understands her struggles.<<

That would be a good character for the food allergy or dietary needs, then. It would avoid heaping everything on just one supporting character.

>>There is also a slam page that the mean girls created to 'slam' people like Jade.<<

Things like that cause SO much trouble.

>>She looks this page up and sees that she is the one that is slammed the most. It causes her to run off to the bathroom and have these depressive thoughts.<<

Well yeah, that would really upset most people, even without depression as a clinical condition.

One model I work with, that the mainstream really doesn't, involves distinguishing between mental illness and mental injury. So a person could be depressed even if things are going well because they have a brain chemistry imbalance; or could become depressed if something awful happens like losing a family member or being tormented by other people. That is actually reflected in examples of depression -- some people just seem to have it off-and-on regardless of what's happening around them, while others fall into it rather abruptly after a triggering event.

>> I want to slowly get all the less severe depressive symptoms first before getting into the really big ones. <<

There are dozens of symptoms, some more common than others. Not everybody has all the symptoms, and in fact, some are mutually contradictory (like wanting to sleep all the time vs. insomnia). So it's probably a better idea to choose a few sample symptoms that seem to fit the character and combine well, for the milder phase and then the more severe phase.

>> I was actually thinking that she tries to FIGHT the depression but instead, she makes it worse later in the story when she breaks down.<<

That's a possibility.

>> One of her other early stages of it will be losing interest in things she used to love doing. <<

Yeah, that's one of the most brutal symptoms, losing the ability to enjoy anything. Then life is just drudgery and torment.

>>But anyway, her grades start slipping down to D's and F's because she has lost interest in school and her usual activities. <<

It's not just lack of interest but also lack of energy and a certain sluggishness of thought. That can make everything take longer and feel harder. So even if she is doing the reading, she might not understand the material as well; and even if she tries to do the homework, she might not be able to finish it by the deadline -- or if she rushes to finish, it will be all full of mistakes.

>>I'm going to research on depression more too. I know there are a few different forms of it so I might try to pick one that fits her the most.<<

That's a good idea. Yes, depression can have different causes, symptoms, and outcomes. I'm ... not really sure how accurate the mainstream resources are, though. The study of the mind and personality is nowhere near as advanced as study of the body, because humans just don't have ways of evaluating ephemeral things as precisely and objectively as material things. So in addition to looking at clinical descriptions, I'd suggest looking for personal accounts of depression by different people.

>>I don't want it to be really obvious that she is going to end up getting severely depressed because then the reader might lose interest.<<

Something to keep an eye on, then, is reader investment in the character and the emotional reward for reading. There should be some successes so people feel that she has agency, even if some things don't work out the way she wants.

One possibility would be to include a major success, such as changing the school lunch menu for the better, shortly before the depression turns deeper. If she was expecting to feel better when things went well, and didn't, that would be a big clue that something else was wrong underneath.

>>I just don't really know how to do that.<<

Start with small details and work your way up to larger ones. Focus on her actions, how it influences the choices she makes; and how she thinks about things, like the detention messing up her routine. This gives people a chance to put the clues together and figure out what's happening for themselves.

>> I like to surprise the reader and there are even times when I don't even let my character say she has autism. I let her call it a disability or condition because I want the reader to get the FEEL for autism without KNOWING it's Autism right away.<<

Good plan. There's a limit to how much surprise you'll get, however, with a character in a crummy situation being depressed and autistic. They're not the same things but they do often overlap.

>>Though I do think I have it mildly and it's just not diagnosed.<<

There should be parameters for describing a range of severity; I've heard of such for depression. But diagnosis can vary a lot depending on the health care provider you have, and the bias can run high or low.

>> My dad has it and he has to take medication for his. I always wonder if it's something genetic but it probably isn't. <<

Depression can run in families, and that's a known factor.

>>I don't know if it was just an autism thing but the thoughts and the emotions I felt were so bad that it was becoming really disabling for me and my psychiatrist shrugged it off and told me it was probably the autism.<<

If something is causing a problem for you, and the alleged professional blows it off, then they are failing to meet your needs and should be replaced with someone actually competent if that is feasible. Sadly, that problem is very common and replacement is not always an option, so many people just wind up suffering.

>>I have a hard time knowing what I am feeling except for like, basic emotions such as happy, sad, angry, frustration<<

So there's another subtle option. Your character might name only basic emotions for herself, while other characters use more nuanced words (elated, nostalgic, outraged, etc.) for themselves. Then she might wonder how they know that stuff.

>>That could be the moment when she has a nervous breakdown and starts cutting herself.<<

You also need to consider whether or not the cutting "works" for her, and if so, how well. Because some people do it, and they feel better, and as long as they're careful it's an effective technique; but it's extremely unacceptable to society, nevermind if it's the only thing that DOES work, people would rather you just suffer than fix it that way. Some folks will cut, and it works at first, but a tolerance builds up kind of like with a drug; so that becomes a serious problem pretty fast. And some people cut, not as a release, but because they really want to HURT themselves, which is somewhat different and again a more serious problem. This is an area where more research would probably help.

>> I want the depressive state to last for a little while and have different triggers that make it even worse. <<

That's realistic.