Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello I'm a mum of a 21 year old non verbal son who has moderate-servere Austism.
My son has always suffered from servere anxiety and sometimes panic attacks, but had many good days enjoying going out in the community. For the last 6 months he is anxious most of the day and very repetitive to the point where he self harms and gets very aggressive with the family. When he cannot get his own way he gets aggressive towards us and destroys the house.
He has been on several different anti anxiety meds which has not made any difference to his behaviour. He seems almost out of control most of the time if not obsessing and repeating about what he will do during the week he is smashing walls. We have always been able to talk him through one of these meltdowns but this time nothing we say makes a difference. He is very good on the computer but has very little interest in anything like the iPad or tv which we're always his favourite things. He used to go out in the community with us and his carer swimming , bowling and shopping but now is too anxious to get out of the car. Lately he has been attacking us in the car so we cannot go out which makes him more angry at home. I'm interested in any information about his age group as I can't get much help from professionals except to medicate. Any information is welcomed sad for my son and scared for us!
It must be very hard to separate what parts of his behaviour and feelings are due to his autism and what is due to mental illness. It sounds to me as though he has developed a serious mental health condition which may have been a result of the isolation that autism brings or, possibly, as a result of some of the medication that he has been taking. Mental health conditions can also arise through the sort of brain differences that also give rise to autism itself.
It is worth checking all of the side effects of all of the meds that he is taking. Perhaps a change in medication might improve the situation?
It is worth considering whether he might be better off in specialist care - either in the short term to try and deal with his current problems - or longer term. Sometimes the home environment, even with the best will in the world, cannot provide the right environment for someone with autism.