Autism and Mental Health

From NPR:

Young adults on the autism spectrum are more likely to also have been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, such as depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than are typically developing people or those with other developmental disabilities, a study finds. And managing those multiple conditions can make the transition to young adulthood especially difficult. It's not clear how much biological factors may contribute to the higher rates, but Share-Strom definitely sees environmental factors playing a major role.

"People with autism aren't immediately born anxious or with depression," Share-Strom says. "The world is fundamentally not built for us, and people are always judging and trying to change you, whether they have the best intentions or not," he says. "Of course that's going to cause a higher rate of anxiety and depression and even suicide rates. I'd be surprised if it didn't." That makes providing resources for these young adults all the more important during that transitional period.

"When it comes to mental health diagnoses and use of psychiatric services, there's a really strong need for the entire developmental disabilities community, but it's an even bigger need for folks on the autism spectrum," says Yona Lunsky, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and coauthor of the study. "I think sometimes people will dismiss something as being part of autism when, in fact, it's not," she adds. "There are people with autism who don't have psychiatric issues." (Read more.)