Abstract
Autistic people are at high risk of mental health problems, self-injury and suicidality. However, no studies have explored autistic peoples’ experiences of treatment and support for these difficulties. In partnership with a steering group of autistic adults, an online survey was developed to explore these individuals’ experiences of treatment and support for mental health problems, self-injury and suicidality for the first time. A total of 200 autistic adults (122 females, 77 males and 1 unreported) aged 18–67 (mean = 38.9 years, standard deviation = 11.5), without co-occurring intellectual disability, completed the online survey. Thematic analysis of open-ended questions resulted in an overarching theme that individually tailored treatment and support was both beneficial and desirable, which consisted of three underlying themes: (1) difficulties in accessing treatment and support; (2) lack of understanding and knowledge of autistic people with co-occurring mental health difficulties and (3) appropriate treatment and support, or lack of, impacted autistic people’s well-being and likelihood of seeing suicide as their future. Findings demonstrate an urgent need for autism treatment pathways in mental health services.
Highlights
Adults diagnosed with autism spectrum conditions, (ASC, commonly referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD)), are at high risk of co-occurring mental health conditions (Lever and Geurts, 2016; Wigham et al, 2017), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; Maddox et al, 2017), and suicidality (Cassidy et al, 2014a, 2018a; Hedley and Uljarević, 2018; Hirvikoski et al, 2016)
Given that autistic adults without intellectual disability (ID) are at highest risk of contemplating suicide (66%, Cassidy et al, 2014a), and dying by suicide (Hirvikoski et al, 2016), the current study focuses on autistic adults without co-occurring ID
This study explored autistic adults’ experiences of treatment and support for mental health problems, self-injury and suicidality from their own perspective, using a participatory approach – autistic adults helped define the aims, design and questions used in the research
Summary
Adults diagnosed with autism spectrum conditions, (ASC, commonly referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD)), are at high risk of co-occurring mental health conditions (Lever and Geurts, 2016; Wigham et al, 2017), non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI; Maddox et al, 2017), and suicidality (Cassidy et al, 2014a, 2018a; Hedley and Uljarević, 2018; Hirvikoski et al, 2016). Lack of support for autistic adults has been associated with increased risk of depression and suicidality (Cassidy et al, 2018a; Hedley et al, 2017).
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