Mental health is showing to be a growing concern in children who have autism. The world is starting to really turn a corner on mental health and how important it is to pay attention to cases when it comes to children. Parents are always on the watch for any signs in their children when it comes to anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. It turns out that there is a raising concern among children when it comes to children who have autism and their mental health.
According to Science Daily, a study was conducted that showed that almost 78% of children with autism have at least one mental health condition to go along with it. Almost half had two or more mental health conditions, and it is alerting healthcare providers everywhere.
The study was conducted at the University of British Columbia and the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University. This is also the first piece of research of its kind since 2008, and the first time they have ever done a study using a large, population-based sample. This research is showing that there needs to be a change in healthcare to adapt to this information.
The 'gap' in mental health services for children with autism is being partly blamed on the fact that medical specialists and the like have been focusing solely on the 'autism' diagnosis and not enough on other factors that were going in with the child.
According to ACT Community, some of the more prevalent mental health conditions that children with autism seemed to live with were ADHD, anxiety disorders and tic disorders. These all made themselves known before the child entered into adulthood. They also found that these conditions may be causing more difficulties for the child than the autism diagnosis. Showing that a child with autism needs full, rounded care in every aspect of their life and not just for their autism.
The original study also showed that the mental health conditions became worse as the child aged, with 60.8% of them showing “behavior problems.” When children with autism were compared to neurotypical children, the difference was alarming when it came to mental health.
In fact, anxiety was 6.3% times more prevalent in children with autism than children who did not have autism. There is clearly a link between autism and mental health, and moms everywhere can only hope that more work now goes into diagnosing and assisting children with any (and all) difficulties they may face.
Sources: Science Daily, ACT Community