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Trigger warning for behaviours related to mental health

H2whoa

To be more explicit than the title, trigger warning for self harm and suicidal ideation. 

I am posting this hoping that it is allowed as I would sincerely appreciate your perspectives. 

I am recently diagnosed autistic man with a long history of severe mental health issues. This includes a lifetime of self harming behaviour and suicidal ideation. With my recent diagnosis, my doctor suggested that the self harm behaviour in particular might be connected to my autism. It is very habitual and feels very routine. It is constant, not just linked to periods of intense depression. In fact, I feel very agitated if my routine is disrupted.

My doctor actually suggested that I reach out here to see if anyone has experienced something similar and what, if anything, has been helpful to escape the routine. It made a certain amount of sense to me that the highly routine nature of it might be related to my autism, as it was partly this that made the mental team refer me for an autism assessment in the first place. 

Parents

  • Hello H2whoa, welcome to the community.

    H2whoa said:
    my doctor suggested that the self harm behaviour in particular might be connected to my autism.

    I don't think it is directly caused by autism but from the pressures that our autistic traits put on our lives and the way we percieve the world. There is a good article on this here:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/self-harm

    It includes the corrolation between autism and self harm that may be of interest to you.

    We are not allowed to offer medical advice but we do recommend you contact professionals in this field (ie therapists who understand autism) and work with them. The NHS is a bit light on this so it may need to be paid for privately.

    Undertanding a lot more about your autism can be enlightening and can lead you to spot things that are stressers for you - tackling these can be a good ways to start lessening the anxiety load most of us carry.

    Have you had much chance to read up on the subject and explore your autistic traits yet?

    There is quite a lot you can do to improve things starting with the knowledge of what you are facing. 

    Let us know if you have any specific areas you are strugling to understand and I'm sure you will get a lot of input on here.

Reply

  • Hello H2whoa, welcome to the community.

    H2whoa said:
    my doctor suggested that the self harm behaviour in particular might be connected to my autism.

    I don't think it is directly caused by autism but from the pressures that our autistic traits put on our lives and the way we percieve the world. There is a good article on this here:

    https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/self-harm

    It includes the corrolation between autism and self harm that may be of interest to you.

    We are not allowed to offer medical advice but we do recommend you contact professionals in this field (ie therapists who understand autism) and work with them. The NHS is a bit light on this so it may need to be paid for privately.

    Undertanding a lot more about your autism can be enlightening and can lead you to spot things that are stressers for you - tackling these can be a good ways to start lessening the anxiety load most of us carry.

    Have you had much chance to read up on the subject and explore your autistic traits yet?

    There is quite a lot you can do to improve things starting with the knowledge of what you are facing. 

    Let us know if you have any specific areas you are strugling to understand and I'm sure you will get a lot of input on here.

Children