At a glance
- Autistic people with co-occurring psychiatric conditions have a much higher risk of premature death than those without these conditions.
- The risk is higher than in non-autistic people with mental health conditions, showing a compounded vulnerability.
- Earlier recognition and better treatment of mental health conditions in autistic people could help reduce preventable deaths.
Autistic people are more likely to die prematurely than non-autistic people, but understanding why has been a challenge. A large population study by MQ Fellow Dr Mark Taylor's team in Sweden, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, adds important new insight. It shows that co-occurring mental health conditions play a major role in this increased risk.
What did the study look at?
Researchers followed nearly 3 million people born in Sweden between 1974 and 2004. Among them were more than 70,000 people with an autism diagnosis.
The team tracked participants from age 16 into adulthood and examined how often people died, and from what causes. They focused on whether people also had diagnosed psychiatric conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or other mental illnesses.
This kind of long-term cohort study allows researchers to understand patterns over time and explore how different factors may influence health outcomes.
What did they find?
The results show a clear and concerning pattern, which is that autistic people who also had psychiatric conditions had the highest risk of premature death. Their mortality rate was more than three times higher than that of autistic people without these conditions, and far higher than that of people without autism or psychiatric diagnoses.
The increased risk applied across different causes of death, including suicide and other external causes, as well as natural causes.
Importantly, the risk faced by autistic people with psychiatric conditions was even higher than the risk seen in non-autistic people with psychiatric conditions. This suggests that the combination of autism and mental illness creates additional vulnerability.
This pattern was consistent across men and women, and also among people with additional neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD or intellectual disability.
Why does this matter?
Autism itself is not a mental health problem, but autistic people are far more likely to experience mental health conditions.
What needs to change?
- Improving recognition of mental health difficulties in autistic people
- Providing tailored and accessible mental health support
- Ensuring services consider the specific needs of autistic individuals
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