World Autism Awareness Day
World Autism Awareness Day of April 2nd is an Internationally recognised event of the United Nations where countries are encouraged to increase awareness of those individuals who live with autism. According to the National Autistic Society, autism can be described as a 'lifelong developmental disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world.'
Living day to day with autism can present many hurdles and people may report 'feeling different to other people.' Autistic people may struggle with communicating and interacting with other people in all areas of their life.
Living in a confusing world can lead to creating 'safe' repetitive routines, having fixed interests, and use 'stimming' as a source of comfort. The behaviours may not be fully understood or accepted by others. In addition, environmental stimuli such as noise and artificial light, can affect a person's performance whether in education or at work.
Given the daily challenges that someone born with autism has, it is hardly surprising that there is a high level of mental health difficulties faced by those on the spectrum. The NHS recognises that many autistic people suffer with anxiety, depression, and obsessive compulsion disorder (OCD)*. The National Autistic Society carried out a mental health survey in 2020 and the results are staggering. An incredible 94% of autistic adults experienced anxiety, and almost two in three have a clinical diagnosis of anxiety, in addition 83% of people have experienced depression**.
My Autism Journey
For as long as I can remember I have always been anxious and suffered with low mood and bouts of depression. At times I found daily life a struggle and always felt in some way different to others. In 2017 my dad passed away and this triggered my breakdown. It was whilst I was being supported for my mental health, I was referred for a psychiatry assessment and it was pointed out that I am very likely to be on the autism spectrum. A couple of years later after the assessments I was given an autism diagnosis. Living with an undiagnosed condition would have effects on my mental health, emotion changes and the associated behaviours throughout the whole of my life.
My autism diagnosis was life changing for me in a positive way once I navigated the first few years of receiving the diagnosis. There was the initial relief of feeling proud that I had got through so much of my life now I understood why I did struggle, then the sense of relief that I had an answer, and for a while a sense of disbelieving my diagnosis and not knowing my identity of who I was.
After being told that I was likely to be on the autism spectrum I started researching traits of how autism is distinguished. Alongside this, I started to understand how a person's mental health can be vulnerable when you consider trying to exist in a world where you feel uncomfortable. In fact, I used one of my autistic traits of being focused on a topic of interest to help me understand my autism and how this affects my mental health.
Firstly, be kind to yourself. As autistic people we tend to analyse and be perfectionists, especially when we consider our social interactions.
Try and balance out the 'not so good' with the 'I did okay' thoughts when you look back over past social interactions. If like me, you manage your anxiety and low mood every day, then spend time reflecting in which areas are causing you most concern.
I have found that I can practically work on areas that make a big improvement on my mental health. Practical things for me are making a 'Plan A, and a Plan B' if my original plan must change, planning my week, reading, art, walking, a short guided meditation, exercise and immersing myself in nature.
Try to consider what your values are in life and what makes you tick and try not being influenced into areas of life, where you know the stressors will eventually cause you difficulties with your mental health as this may end up being an on-going battle.
Finally, try communicating your autism traits to others with a solution which will help you, such as the need to 'recharge your social energy battery' and talking through any reasonable adjustments within education and the workplace.
How Norfolk and Waveney Talking Therapies can Support You
Here at Norfolk and Waveney Talking Therapies, we strive to enable ease of access to refer in for mental health support. Within the Service we have a 'Greenlight' group, where the focus is on making improvements for those people on the autism spectrum and for those people who have learning differences. The group have made improvements on the referral process, how we communicate with you, and the development of Easy Read material.
Norfolk and Waveney Talking Therapies are committed to understand how we can best meet individual needs in the form of reasonable adjustments to ensure that the experience of treatment is to be a positive one for you.
Additional support may also be available for you in the form of a Peer Support Worker and Employment Advisors. Peer Support Workers share their own lived experiences of mental health difficulties and their recovery journey and can also give you guidance as to what treatment may look like.
Facing barriers within employment or trying to find work can be an extremely stressful experience for those people on the autism spectrum. An Employment Advisor may be able to support you with your employment challenges.
If you think peer support or employment support would be beneficial for you, you can self-refer on our website at any time or call our friendly team on 0300 123 1503 (Mon-Fri).
Additional support
We have a range of free online workshops that can also be very useful to learn about tools and coping strategies that can help with mental health challenges such as anxiety, low mood, and low self esteem.
Our workshops are delivered by a private webinar platform ensuring you won't be seen by anyone and each session contains lots of evidence-based tips and techniques to help you improve your mental health and retain positive wellbeing.
Each of our workshops is free and easy to join from our website - just choose the workshop you'd like to join, select a suitable date, complete the short form and we'll send you a joining link. Alternatively, you can give our team a call on 0300 123 1503 and they can book you on.
You can view our full range of online Workshops here
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