Autism and mental health information resource
The College has published a new information resource on autism and mental health.
This resource is written for autistic adults and the people who know them. It looks at:
- what autism is
- autistic strengths
- what the assessment and diagnostic process involves
- support available post-diagnosis.
The second half of the resource specifically covers autism and mental health, including:
- how mental health conditions can present differently, be missed, or be misdiagnosed in autistic people
- autistic burnout and its links with mental health
- the potential impact of psychiatric hospital admission
- information for friends, family and carers.
The resource also has a section for health and social care professionals, and looks at how they can adapt the care they give to better support autistic people.
The lead author of this resource was the College’s autism champion, Dr Conor Davidson, and the resource was produced with the support of a working group of people with clinical expertise and lived experience. Special thanks to Dr Alison Lennox, Matthew Riley, Dr Miriam Isaac, Dr Sana Fatima and Verity Westgate for their work on this resource. This resource was also reviewed and received valuable input from the College’s Autism Working Group.
This resource is also available in Welsh. You can read all of our other Welsh translations on our website.
This resource will soon be available to buy as a physical leaflet. If you would like to pre-order a copy, please contact leaflets@rcpsych.ac.uk.