Mental Health and Autism

Statistics

Mental health problems appear to be common in autistic people as well as their families and carers. For example

• 84.1% of children with autism met the full criteria of at least one anxiety disorder.
• 1 in 15 people with Asperger syndrome experience depression (Tantam, 1991).
• 8% of children with Asperger syndrome and 10% of children with high-functioning autism were diagnosed with OCD.
• People with Asperger’s syndrome are relatively more likely to have delusional beliefs than other people.
• There is no evidence that people with autism are more likely than anyone else to develop schizophrenia

Updated

16 Jun 2022