Autism itself isn’t a mental health problem. However autistic people are more likely to struggle with mental health problems compared to neurotypical people, so it is important to explore the relationship between autism and mental health. For World Autism Awareness Day, we wanted to share with you Dr Teresa Tavassoli’s MQ and Autistica funded research, which explores the relationship between sensory reactivity and anxiety in autistic children.
Most autistic people experience the sensory world around them, such as sounds and touch, differently – but is this impacting their mental health?
Teresa and her team have been working on a project to better understand the relationship between sensory reactivity and anxiety.
Feelings of anxiety can be beneficial to us. They warn us of danger. It’s only when excessive fear and worry get in the way of living your life that it becomes a disorder. Anxiety disorder is particularly common among people with autism, a recent meta-analysis study showed around 40% of autistic people live with an anxiety disorder too.
Around 80% of autistic individuals struggle with how they experience the sensory world. This includes hyperreactivity, hyporeactivity and sensory seeking, which can often be mistaken for behavioural issues.
Hyperreactivity
An exaggerated behavioural response to stimuli, eg feeling stressed from loud noises or a strong aversion to certain smells.
Hyporeactivity
A reduced response to stimuli, such as pain, or sensations such as hunger
Sensory seeking
An interest or fascination with intense sensory experiences such as spinning things, intense hugs or playing music at loud volumes.
Teresa’s research found sensory hyperreactivity correlated with anxiety and found sensory reactivity is both a cause and an effect of anxiety in autistic adults - a bidirectional relationship. Autistic adults perceived sensory hyperreactivity to precede anxiety, and sensory seeking to be more an effect of anxiety. Seeking could act as a coping strategy. In children, Teresa and her team found a link between sensory hyperreactivity and seeking, but have not explored cause and effect yet.
Teresa said: “Not all sensory reactivity differences are a challenge, some are reported to be beneficial. Sensory seeking for example has been reported to be calming for some autistic adults and can act as a coping strategy.”
Find out more about Teresa’s MQ and Autistica-funded research here.
