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.
There is a question whether this phenomenon of suicide amongst middle aged and older adults will continue in the future or decrease. Does it have anything to do with bad childhoods as a result of undiagnosed ASD whereas the younger generation with ASD are more likely to be diagnosed and offered recognition and support as children and teenagers?
Despite all the stuff about todays youth being a hard done by generation, I find that younger adults with Asperger Syndrome tend to be reasonably happy and confident people whereas many over the age of 40 are miserable and depressed, and often talk about their ruined childhoods as a result of them being misunderstood or accused of being badly behaved. Some who were children in the 1980s and early 90s are upset that Lorna Wing didn't do more to publicise AS because more awareness could have spared them injustices that they received.
I would say that depends on a couple of things...
1) Is the support which these people are receiving really teaching them what they need to survive independently in the adult world? If all it is really doing is teaching autistic people how to mask better, then I think that the possibility of burn-outs and long term mental health problems may still be very high, if only from the sheer effort of maintaining those coping mechanisms. To an outside observer, I coped well right up until I left home; in reality I was a nervous wreck inside and constantly anxious that I'd be exposed as a fraud. When I left home, my new circumstances meant that I didn't know what mask I should wear, and I fell apart completely; I was closer to homelessness and death than at any other time, and no warning signs that this might happen were ever noticed beforehand.
2) Is there going to be any improvement in services for adults and society's attitude to autism in general? From school-leaving age to middle-age is plenty of time to experience the kind of frustrations that we often talk about here; difficulty with finding work, rejection in romantic relationships, feeling left behind by peers, etc. Even where childhood interventions have been very successful, those people's lives could be full of unexpected, nasty surprises, just like anyone's can be. At those times, support services still need to recognise that they are dealing with an autistic person, and that in a time of crisis, their autistic traits are likely to become far more prominent and will need accommodating. These critical times are when a person is at their most vulnerable, so even if the new generation's general ability to cope is much better, we shouldn't be complacent about the need for adult support tailored for autistic people.
Trogluddite said:1) Is the support which these people are receiving really teaching them what they need to survive independently in the adult world? If all it is really doing is teaching autistic people how to mask better, then I think that the possibility of burn-outs and long term mental health problems may still be very high, if only from the sheer effort of maintaining those coping mechanisms. To an outside observer, I coped well right up until I left home; in reality I was a nervous wreck inside and constantly anxious that I'd be exposed as a fraud. When I left home, my new circumstances meant that I didn't know what mask I should wear, and I fell apart completely; I was closer to homelessness and death than at any other time, and no warning signs that this might happen were ever noticed beforehand.
Good question. The provision of services is very invariable but at least children with ASD are less likely to be diagnosed as having behavioural problems or lazy at school, and ineffective solutions like harsh discipline with no reason or explanation offered that usually make the situation worse.
There have been instances of secondary school age students with undiagnosed ASD back in the 1980s and 90s being sent to residential schools for children who were violent and aggressive at mainstream school, or for children with family problems when their parents could not support them, often under the guise of emotional and behavioural difficulties. LEA officials did not always check up on the progress of such children or whether the school was suitable for them at regular intervals.