MISTAKEN IDENTITY:AUTISM AND MENTALHEALTH

Jack Welch

Autism and Co-Occurring Conditions Conference – 29th January 2019

FIRST THINGS FIRST…

A BIT ABOUTME…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

“Autism is considered a mental disorderby the DSM-5 and to state that autism

doesn't affect my mental health one bitis incredibly rude. ”

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOrJU6JSFc

“Autism is considered a mental disorderby the DSM-5 and to state that autism

doesn't affect my mental health one bitis incredibly rude. ”

Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOrJU6JSFc

SETTING THE SCENE

Anxiety40%

Depression

30-40%

PersonalityDisorders68% meet

criteria fromone study

80% of autistic people will experience amental health problem in their lifetime.

UNDERSTANDING WHY

Lack of acceptance in society

Isolation/loneliness

Disconnect within services

Exploitation (bullying/mate crime)

Misdiagnosis given by professionals

Existing stigma

CO-OCCURRING OR THE SAME?

“The motivation behind the pushto label autism as something otherthan a psychiatric disorder, in myview, comes much more fromfears of stigma than any scientificprinciple.”

Source:https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/abcs-child-psychiatry/201510/is-autism-mental-illness

“The motivation behind the pushto label autism as something otherthan a psychiatric disorder, in myview, comes much more fromfears of stigma than any scientificprinciple.”

Source:https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/abcs-child-psychiatry/201510/is-autism-mental-illness

Correlation

Conflation

AN AUTISTIC VIEW

I've met so manygreat autistic people

online who I'velearned so much from

and completelychanged my view on

what it is to beautistic. This has beengood for my mental

health as I canaccept myself.

The autistic personfeels like there is

something wrong withthem and that theyhave to pretend tobe someone else to

be worthy offriendship or love.

There's so many'awareness'

campaigns thatare all very surfacelevel and do littleto achieve whatactually autistic

people want andneed.

Training absolutelyMUST be done by an

autistic person toavoid misinformationand to drive home the

point that everyautistic person is

different.

AN AUTISTIC VIEW – WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?

Services,educators,media, etc

actually listeningto autistic peopleand then allyingwith us instead ofspeaking over us.

Autistic peopleemployed to co

design andreview quality ofall mental healthservices - if they

are good enoughto meet the

needs of autisticpeople, they arelikely to be better

for everyone.

Acceptance.People know weexist, they needto accept we're

humans withhuman rights just

like they are.

AN AUTISTIC VIEW – DIAGNOSIS FIRST?

KNOW YOUR NORMAL

KYN: WHAT WE FOUND…

4/5 of participants in the online survey had experienced a mentalhealth problem.

More felt depressed and/or under strain a higher number than thosewho were neurotypical (non-autistic).

Only 10% were confident they would have the appropriate levels ofsupport and 14% had indicated in favour of clinician/healthcareprofessional.

36% were unsure whether their mental heal problem was distinct fromautism itself.

“I can feel a difference but I don’t knowif it would as easy for someone else to

tell.”

KYN: WHAT NEEDSTO BE DONE?

Incentives toreduce stigma.Increasing

training forprofessionals.Autistic

involvement inservice designand delivery.

WHAT IS NORMAL?

WHAT IS RESEARCH SAYING?

Autism acceptance from others could beimportant for autistic individuals’ mental health fora number of reasons. Within the mental healthliterature, perceived stigma from others is thoughtto contribute negatively to the mental health ofstigmatised groups.

Experiences of Autism Acceptance and MentalHealth in Autistic Adults

Camouflaging also explained significantadditional variance in suicidality abovedepression or anxiety, suggesting that theassociation with suicidality is, at least in part,independent of mental health.

Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults

Autistic and possibly autistic adults were alsosignificantly less likely to agree with their mentalhealth diagnoses than non-autistic adults.

Experience of mental health diagnosis andperceived misdiagnosis in autistic, possibly autisticand non-autistic adults

Mental health services are currently woefully limitedin their ability to provide effective interventions forautistic people with intellectual disability, andtailored interventions are needed for this muchneglected group.

Understanding, Recognising and Treating Co-occurring Anxiety in Autism

HOW TO HELP

Treatments/Support

Training

Digital

Person-centred

Multidisciplinary

ANY QUESTIONS?

THANKYOU!

• Twitter: @MrJW18• Find me on Medium:medium.com/@MrJW18

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Au-Yeung, S. K., Bradley, L., Robertson, A. E., Shaw, R., Baron-Cohen, S., & Cassidy, S.(2018). Experience of mental health diagnosis and perceived misdiagnosis in autistic,possibly autistic and non-autistic adults. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318818167

Cassidy, S., Bradley, L., Shaw, R., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2018). Risk markers for suicidality inautistic adults. Molecular Autism, 9(1). doi: 10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4

Cage, E., Di Monaco, J. & Newell, V. (2017), Experiences of autism acceptance and mentalhealth in autistic adults, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, pp.1-12

Crane, L., Adams, F., Harper, G., Welch, J., & Pellicano, E. (2018). ‘Something needs tochange’: Mental health experiences of young autistic adults in England. Autism.https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318757048

Rodgers, J., & Ofield, A. (2018). Understanding, Recognising and Treating Co-occurringAnxiety in Autism. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 5(1), 58-64. doi:10.1007/s40474-018-0132-7