Published on 12, July, 2020
Depression is even more likely to affect those in the autism community than it affects neurotypicals and the non-disabled, because of the lifelong torture that people with autism go through on a daily basis. And people on the autism spectrum also have a high suicide risk, according to medical research and proven psychology articles. Which is why as someone with Asperger syndrome I find myself wondering if I will continue to suffer from depression and have thoughts of suicide for the rest of my life.
There was this group of ASD and Asperger Syndrome adults who had either contemplated suicide or considered doing so after being diagnosed at a clinic, because they ended up suffering from depression. I also heard about one autistic man who eventually committed suicide. I don't want to end up amongst those people - even though I won't be able to break free from my severe depression.
I live in Thurrock where the autism specific services for autistic adults are non existent apart from supported living accommodation specifically for young adults. I am 55 years of age and I have struggled with mental health issues which are undiagnosed due to the way mental health assessments are done by my GP practise where they won't adapt the assessment for the way depression appears in those with autism. The last time I received any mental health support was with a CBT therapist who had no training or experience in working with autistic people. He told me that the reason he and the other therapists had not any autism training was because there is not a call for it.
Plus the suicide rates are scary but i wonder how they can possibly include a representative number of older autistics who go through life undiagnosed or only find out much later in life (like me at 55). i'm not saying there are no issues (i've certainly been through a lot myself) but I think the actual rates would be diluted by those, like my dad, who died at nearly 90 and who I can only retrospectively identify as autistic.
As a family we've certainly had our struggles but we are also quite long lived. To me this suggests that there is also great hope for coping strategies and finding meaning and happiness in life.
I think you're right, Jenny. I'm almost 60 now - diagnosed at 56 - and I have constant suicide ideation. I've recently started counselling, and have discussed this with my counsellor. I don't actively want to die... but I think that if I didn't wake up tomorrow, I wouldn't be missing much. I've told my counsellor that I feel comforted by the idea that suicide is there as an option - and that if the time ever came when I chose to take it, it would be a rational decision. The balance of my mind certainly wouldn't be disturbed.
Longevity is a feature in my family on both sides. My father smoked and drank heavily for most of his life, but made it to 78. My mother had multiple health issues for the last third of her life, but still made it almost to 90. If the autism was inherited genetically, I think it most likely came from her.
Longevity runs in my family - still have all 4 grandparents and they are all in their 90's. Both my grandfathers I would say have autistic traits, I wouldn't know them well enough to say definitively if they are autistic though. Both managed to keep good jobs and raise a family. Both also have dementia. What I would be interested to find out is if being on the spectrum raises your risk of developing dementia.