While it is estimated that 25% of people will develop a mental health problem in their lifetime, amongst autistic people that figure is 70%.
Autism is a condition that affects how people interact with others and the world around them. It is not a mental health problem itself, but autistic individuals are at a high risk for mental health problems. It is therefore very important for mental health research to focus on the needs of autistic individuals.
Mental health problems in autistic people
Older versions of the diagnostic criteria for autism did not allow autistic people to be additionally diagnosed with certain mental health problems. For example, someone who had been diagnosed with autism could not then be diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. Research from around 2000 onwards, however, started to overlook this restriction. Such studies showed that mental health problems were very common in autistic people, with over half of autistic people thought to qualify for a diagnosis of at least one mental health problem.
Our recent work, supported by MQ, has supported these findings. The percentage of autistic people with mental health problems was more than 4.5 times higher (51.1%) than in people without an autism diagnosis (11.3%). More than 25% of autistic people further received two or more diagnoses of mental health problems. The most common disorders among autistic people were sleep disorders (30.7%, including prescription of sleep medication), depressive disorders (22.7%), anxiety disorders (20.6%), and self-harm (7.8%). Not only are autistic people more likely to experience mental health problems, these problems also tend to be more severe. When looking at hospitalizations due to mental health problems we found a higher risk in autistic people. Around 15% of autistic people- (compared to 2.8% in non-autistic people) were hospitalized due to a mental health problem. Most commonly this was due to depression, anxiety and self-harm.
The percentage of autistic people with mental health problems was more than 4.5 times higher than in people without an autism diagnosis.
What can be done?
Studies that have aimed to seek out autistic individuals’ views on what autism research should focus on, such as A Future Made Together, emphasize the need for research on their mental health. Indeed, this research can be important for raising awareness of mental health problems in autistic individuals to clinicians and healthcare services. In addition, autistic individuals face a considerable number of challenges throughout their lives which might negatively influence their mental health. For example, it can be very challenging for autistic people to live independently. Not only are autistic people at a high risk for mental health problems, they are also more likely to be diagnosed with physical disorders, such as epilepsy and autoimmune diseases. A large proportion of autistic people report sleep difficulties, and insomnia is known to be more common in autistic people than in non-autistic people. Understanding how these challenges contribute to the mental health problems that autistic people face is an important avenue for mental health research. Moreover, we need to also understand which factors might make it less likely that autistic people will develop mental health problems. With the support of MQ, we are trying to investigate these factors, and ultimately try to reduce the risk of mental health problems in autistic people.
Mark Taylor works at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. Through behavioural genetics and epidemiology, Marks area of study focuses on the mental and physical health of autistic individuals
Miriam Martini finished her Master’s in Developmental and Clinical Psychology and is currently working as a PhD Student at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. Her PhD is on causes and consequences of autism in adulthood, mainly researching mental health in autistic individuals with a focus on young adulthood.
