On the subject of Mental illness and Autism

Hi. Young autistic guy here.

I just recently signed up here and I'm not used to writing in forums at all, but with this subject I find myself really eager and passionate to write about it.

Maybe I haven't dug deep enough on the internet, but I see less resources for people who have both mental illness and autism. I have both. There's a stigma surrounding it, where it seems 'impossible' to have both be co-morbid, to basically have both at the same time. The fact is, both are possible. If anyone's needed to read that, who feels invalid, or a complete fraud/fake, you're not. Many factors can create mental illness. Trauma, loss, bullying, etc. Even non-autistics can have one or more mental illnesses or physical ailments.

Why is it important to have more resources? Because from my own personal experience of being made to feel as if I'm lying about having both, you can feel so, so misunderstood. The mental health side gets put on the back burner and gradually things deteriorate for those affected, because there's not enough discussion and resources about mental illness and autism being both common together.

Parents
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi, Old autistic guy here,

    Welcome to the forum.

    There are a lot of co-morbidities in the autistic population. Sometimes this is recognised, sometimes it is not.

    Autism is not considered a mental health issue by mental health services in my area. And I agree it isn’t. However, the experience of being autistic in a world run by non-autistics seems to inevitably result in mental health issues.

    I have given up trying to find the correct support via the health service. By researching both autism and the concomitant mental health issues, I have slowly managed to pull myself back from the brink and now feel I am moving forward.

    My suggestion would be to talk to other autistic people on here and wherever and whenever you can. You will eventually find people who see life and its problems in the same way as you. This is a good start to the process of recovery and regaining control of your life.

Reply
  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Hi, Old autistic guy here,

    Welcome to the forum.

    There are a lot of co-morbidities in the autistic population. Sometimes this is recognised, sometimes it is not.

    Autism is not considered a mental health issue by mental health services in my area. And I agree it isn’t. However, the experience of being autistic in a world run by non-autistics seems to inevitably result in mental health issues.

    I have given up trying to find the correct support via the health service. By researching both autism and the concomitant mental health issues, I have slowly managed to pull myself back from the brink and now feel I am moving forward.

    My suggestion would be to talk to other autistic people on here and wherever and whenever you can. You will eventually find people who see life and its problems in the same way as you. This is a good start to the process of recovery and regaining control of your life.

Children
  • Thank you for the welcome!

    You're right about self-management; As horrible as it is to feel like there aren't enough people putting in the work to help, it can make you a stronger person when you learn new coping skills on your own. Like you also said, speaking to others who experience both at the same time can probably give you much better advice than someone who doesn't want to try to understand.

    I'm in the process of finding mental health care, but being a young adult now, I'm still not at a stage where I'm satisfied with things. I've learned new strategies, but I just don't understand why we, the autistic individuals, are made to feel like we are stupid and delusional if we bring up our mental health struggles? So I can completely understand why you gave up. It gets tiring and frustrating.

    I hope that by more people speaking about it, one day something will change. :)