Autism and Mental Health

There is evidence of a significantly higher prevalence of mental health problems among autistic children, young people and adults compared to the general population.

Common mental health issues faced by autistic children and young people

Common mental health issues experienced by autistic children and young people include:

  • Addiction
  • Anxiety
  • Burnout and Fatigue
  • Demand Avoidance
  • Depression
  • Eating Issues
  • Masking
  • OCD
  • PTSD and Trauma
  • Self Esteem
  • Self-Harm and Suicide
  • Sleep Issues

Research suggests that up to 78% of autistic children have a mental health condition (compared to 14.1% of non-autistic children and young people), while almost half have two conditions or more. These mental health conditions are found to become more prevalent as children grow older.

The mental health charity Mind suggests that there are many possible reasons why autistic child or young person may also experience mental health problems. These include:

  • Negative attitudes from other people. Non-autistic people may not understand or accept autistic differences. Autistic children and young people may be more likely to experience stigma, discrimination, trauma and loneliness. All these experiences contribute to mental health problems.
  • Differences in interacting with the world. Autistic children and young people may have to navigate places which don’t meet their sensory, processing or communication needs. For example, they may find public transport stressful, or have difficulty in the classroom environment.
  • Misdiagnosis. Some experiences of autism overlap with symptoms of mental health problems. This can mean that experiences of autism are mistaken for mental health problems. Misdiagnosis can make it harder to get the right help, and this can contribute to stress, anxiety and depression.
  • Barriers to support. It can be difficult getting the right support, both for autism and for mental health problems. For example:
    • It can take a long time to get an autism diagnosis.
    • Mental health and social care services may not understand how best to support autistic children and young people.
    • Some people report that services don’t take responsibility for their care and autistic children and young people may get passed between different services. These barriers can affect mental health.

(Source: Mind)

Adolescents

Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression often emerge during the transition from childhood to adulthood. This time period is often referred to as ‘adolescents’ or ‘teenage years’. Adolescents is particularly challenging for autistic people as many changes take place during this time.

Research has found that autistic adolescents are more likely than non-autistic people to experience depression; anxiety and other mental health issues, and have higher frequency of negative life events, bullying and trauma which negatively impact on engagement with school and general wellbeing. 

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