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MISTAKEN IDENTITY:AUTISM AND MENTALHEALTH
Jack Welch
Autism and Co-Occurring Conditions Conference – 29th January 2019
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FIRST THINGS FIRST…
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A BIT ABOUTME…
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
“Autism is considered a mental disorderby the DSM-5 and to state that autism
doesn't affect my mental health one bitis incredibly rude. ”
Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOrJU6JSFc
“Autism is considered a mental disorderby the DSM-5 and to state that autism
doesn't affect my mental health one bitis incredibly rude. ”
Source:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOrJU6JSFc
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SETTING THE SCENE
Anxiety40%
Depression
30-40%
PersonalityDisorders68% meet
criteria fromone study
80% of autistic people will experience amental health problem in their lifetime.
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UNDERSTANDING WHY
Lack of acceptance in society
Isolation/loneliness
Disconnect within services
Exploitation (bullying/mate crime)
Misdiagnosis given by professionals
Existing stigma
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CO-OCCURRING OR THE SAME?
“The motivation behind the pushto label autism as something otherthan a psychiatric disorder, in myview, comes much more fromfears of stigma than any scientificprinciple.”
Source:https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/abcs-child-psychiatry/201510/is-autism-mental-illness
“The motivation behind the pushto label autism as something otherthan a psychiatric disorder, in myview, comes much more fromfears of stigma than any scientificprinciple.”
Source:https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/abcs-child-psychiatry/201510/is-autism-mental-illness
Correlation
Conflation
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AN AUTISTIC VIEW
I've met so manygreat autistic people
online who I'velearned so much from
and completelychanged my view on
what it is to beautistic. This has beengood for my mental
health as I canaccept myself.
The autistic personfeels like there is
something wrong withthem and that theyhave to pretend tobe someone else to
be worthy offriendship or love.
There's so many'awareness'
campaigns thatare all very surfacelevel and do littleto achieve whatactually autistic
people want andneed.
Training absolutelyMUST be done by an
autistic person toavoid misinformationand to drive home the
point that everyautistic person is
different.
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AN AUTISTIC VIEW – WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE?
Services,educators,media, etc
actually listeningto autistic peopleand then allyingwith us instead ofspeaking over us.
Autistic peopleemployed to co
design andreview quality ofall mental healthservices - if they
are good enoughto meet the
needs of autisticpeople, they arelikely to be better
for everyone.
Acceptance.People know weexist, they needto accept we're
humans withhuman rights just
like they are.
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AN AUTISTIC VIEW – DIAGNOSIS FIRST?
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KNOW YOUR NORMAL
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KYN: WHAT WE FOUND…
4/5 of participants in the online survey had experienced a mentalhealth problem.
More felt depressed and/or under strain a higher number than thosewho were neurotypical (non-autistic).
Only 10% were confident they would have the appropriate levels ofsupport and 14% had indicated in favour of clinician/healthcareprofessional.
36% were unsure whether their mental heal problem was distinct fromautism itself.
“I can feel a difference but I don’t knowif it would as easy for someone else to
tell.”
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KYN: WHAT NEEDSTO BE DONE?
Incentives toreduce stigma.Increasing
training forprofessionals.Autistic
involvement inservice designand delivery.
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WHAT IS NORMAL?
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WHAT IS RESEARCH SAYING?
Autism acceptance from others could beimportant for autistic individuals’ mental health fora number of reasons. Within the mental healthliterature, perceived stigma from others is thoughtto contribute negatively to the mental health ofstigmatised groups.
Experiences of Autism Acceptance and MentalHealth in Autistic Adults
Camouflaging also explained significantadditional variance in suicidality abovedepression or anxiety, suggesting that theassociation with suicidality is, at least in part,independent of mental health.
Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults
Autistic and possibly autistic adults were alsosignificantly less likely to agree with their mentalhealth diagnoses than non-autistic adults.
Experience of mental health diagnosis andperceived misdiagnosis in autistic, possibly autisticand non-autistic adults
Mental health services are currently woefully limitedin their ability to provide effective interventions forautistic people with intellectual disability, andtailored interventions are needed for this muchneglected group.
Understanding, Recognising and Treating Co-occurring Anxiety in Autism
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HOW TO HELP
Treatments/Support
Training
Digital
Person-centred
Multidisciplinary
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ANY QUESTIONS?
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THANKYOU!
• Twitter: @MrJW18• Find me on Medium:medium.com/@MrJW18
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Au-Yeung, S. K., Bradley, L., Robertson, A. E., Shaw, R., Baron-Cohen, S., & Cassidy, S.(2018). Experience of mental health diagnosis and perceived misdiagnosis in autistic,possibly autistic and non-autistic adults. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318818167
Cassidy, S., Bradley, L., Shaw, R., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2018). Risk markers for suicidality inautistic adults. Molecular Autism, 9(1). doi: 10.1186/s13229-018-0226-4
Cage, E., Di Monaco, J. & Newell, V. (2017), Experiences of autism acceptance and mentalhealth in autistic adults, Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, pp.1-12
Crane, L., Adams, F., Harper, G., Welch, J., & Pellicano, E. (2018). ‘Something needs tochange’: Mental health experiences of young autistic adults in England. Autism.https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361318757048
Rodgers, J., & Ofield, A. (2018). Understanding, Recognising and Treating Co-occurringAnxiety in Autism. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 5(1), 58-64. doi:10.1007/s40474-018-0132-7