Autism isn’t a mental health problem. But poor mental health is often an autistic problem.
This mental health awareness week is an interesting one for me, being the first one where I’ve known I am autistic.
My mental health has suffered a lot over the years and a big part of that came from not knowing I was autistic, from not understanding how my brain works and trying to force myself to be something I wasn’t, and never could be. All that time, I felt incredibly alone.
Pre-diagnosis I struggled with long bouts of depression and anxiety. The standard treatments and approaches didn’t help me and left me feeling even worse. On top of feeling like I was failing at life, I then felt I was failing at therapy. Like everything, I felt I just wasn’t trying hard enough. The downward spiral continued.
Post-diagnosis I’ve been really lucky to find excellent neurodiversity affirming counselling services, but I had to really go searching to find those. Being able to speak to someone who gets it, and feel genuinely understood has been a game changer. Knowing that ‘typical’ approaches like CBT often don’t work, at least not without adaptations, for autistic people, I now feel less guilty for not ‘succeeding’ at those before.
Ways I’ve started to accommodate myself and build a life that better suits my autistic brain are supporting my mental health. Finally understanding my brain and the nuanced ways that autism and mental health intersect have helped me better support myself.
Finding other neurodivergent people to speak to has also been a huge benefit, and has made me feel less alone.
I know I’m not alone in this. The statistics around autistic mental health are dire. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicidal ideation and suicide - they’re all much more prevalent in autistics than the neurotypical population. We struggle more, yet there are fewer resources and supports specifically dedicated to and designed for us.
Autistic mental health matters.
Mental health support must be neuroinclusive.
So, what can we do better?
Ensure that support you offer includes neurodiversity affirming services as one side really doesn’t fit all when it comes to mental health support. Ensure that any employee assistance programmes or health cover you offer includes supports specifically designed or adapted for neurodivergent employees. If this genuinely isn’t possible, at the very least clearly signpost resources and services that people can access external to your organisation, to remove some of the effort in even finding these in the first place.
Also, ensure there is a frictionless process for neurodivergent employees to request and access accommodations and provide reasonable adjustments to support them. Having a more supportive and accessible environment can considerably help our wider mental health.
Professionals- ensure your services are genuinely neurodiversity affirming. If you’re not autistic yourself, listen to those who are to understand our needs and preferences.
Fellow autistics- don’t accept that poor mental health is ‘just part of being autistic’. Don’t feel like you’re failing if the support you’re accessing doesn’t suit your brain and your needs. You deserve support that genuinely is designed for you.
Let’s do better.