Psychiatric conditions hospitalize almost one in three autistic women by age 25

[VictorR]

About 32 percent of autistic women are hospitalized for a psychiatric condition by age 25, a fraction six times higher than for women without autism and nearly twice that of autistic men.

“That is quite a shocking number,” says Miriam Martini, a graduate student in medical epidemiology and biostatistics who works in Mark Taylor’s group at the Karolinska Institutet in Solna, Sweden.

Martini presented the findings 13 May at the 2022 International Society for Autism Research annual meeting. (Links to abstracts may work only for registered conference attendees.)

A 2021 study, which used a Danish health registry, analyzed data on co-occurring conditions for about 16,000 autistic people up to age 16. The new study appears to be the first national registry-based effort to do the same for women up to age 25, thus capturing a critical time point in young adulthood, when many mental health disorders are first diagnosed.

Data for the study came from about 1.3 million people born in Sweden between 1985 and 1997, nearly 21,000 of whom have autism and about 7,100 of whom are women. The researchers pooled together multiple databases — including the Medical Birth Register, National Patient Register and Prescribed Drug Register — to track 11 different psychiatric diagnoses, from anxiety and depression to sleep disorders and self-harm.

By age 25, 77 percent of autistic women and about 62 percent of autistic men had been diagnosed with a psychiatric condition, according to Martini. Among non-autistic women and men, these values fall to about 14 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

After controlling for birth year and co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or intellectual disability, autistic men and women were still significantly more likely than non-autistic people to be hospitalized for any psychiatric condition.

“Now we know that psychiatric hospitalization is much more common among autistic individuals, and especially among autistic women,” Martini says. “So it would be nice to identify what are the precursors for this? How did they get to this stage?”

The findings are dire; they suggest a critical need for expanded mental health services, Martini says, especially for women with autism.

Source:

Psychiatric conditions hospitalize almost one in three autistic women by age 25 | Spectrum | Autism Research News

The findings, based on Swedish national registry data, suggest a critical need to expand mental health services for autistic people.

www.spectrumnews.org

 

[All-Rounder]

Wow, those numbers skyrocket for us.

 

[Rodafina]

@VictorR, thank you for your ever enlightening and elucidating resources and the summaries you provide.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Stadistics are tricky.

32% of diagnosed Autistic women are hospitalized for a psychiatric condition by age 25, a fraction six times higher than for women without diagnosed autism and nearly twice that of diagnosed autistic men.

So is it a lack of diagnose in women issue?

If we did the study in a population of just diagnosed Autistic men and women we could appreciate the gender factor more clearly.

Then we could remember that autistic men tend to be more aggresive/blunt/direct which cause more social problems while women tend to mask way more, restraining themselves and developing more anxiety/depression that leads them to seek therapy...

So we would need to isolate a group of diagnosed non confrontational men and women to actually appreciate the gender factor...

But then we could remember than women also suffer more sexual abuse and trauma than men in a civil live (not counting war)... so we would need to isolate a group of diagnosed non confrontational non abused non traumed group of men and women...

Just to remember the influence of roles and education in girls and boys...

So yeah. Stadistics are lovely. And conclusions derived from stadistics are even more lovely.

 

[Darkkin]

66% of autistics deal with clinical depression and/or anxiety. 30 - 50% have a comorbidity with ADHD. And on average 33% of individuals diagnosed with depression (as whole, not just autistics) do not respond to traditional forms of treatment.

Part of the difference in gender numbers has more to do with the overt presentation of acute symptoms in females. Mental health issues are far less stigmatized in women then in men and women are not viewed as weak for seeking treatment or reaching out. All too often men are.

Female social networks also tend to be larger and way more candid about things like mental health concerns. Women are way more likely to seek active treatment or be encouraged to seek treatment than men simply because of the nature of the society we live in.

Chances are for every female that sought inpatient treatment there was probably a male counterpart that didn't. Suicide rates often reflect this inverse statistic. In the US this sadly proves to be the case.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Also:

Why didnt they conclude "Now we know many of our patients are autistics, lets turn our instalations into autistic friendly?"

Why?

Instead lets do more studies to find the cure... Argh!

 

[Gerontius]

I'm seeing an autistic lady. She's never been hospitalized but she's never had much of a good time either. 21 years old and cannot run a motor car, is just doodling through college, was born with a natural intelligence that is something amazing but isn't trained in thinking so it's caused her a lot of mental anguish.

Nice girl but I can see what happens when so many like her aren't treated.

Autistic women get the worst end of the whole deal. It doesn't have to be so, but it is, and I think it's an injustice.

 

[Atrapa Almas]

Women get the worst end of the whole deal, autistic or not.

 

[Aspychata]

My daughter who definitely is autistic and l lightly broached this subject with her in her late 20's. She had therapy in high school and was on antidepressants. She may also have inherited some bipolar in the mix. She may be applying for a research position which sounds as a better career choice for her then her current position. She definitely is a fact finding, researcher type person, and we definitely need these types. Relieved that she went for counseling, so happy that she didn't let shame hold her back as l did at one point in my life. When l was stalked, l was to afraid to go in. Now l regret that decision.

 

[Darkkin]

Another factor that may influence that 32% number of autistic females. Look at the diagnostic criteria and the historical gender bias.

What percentage of the diagnosed autistic females were late diagnosed (early to mid teens), after first having been slapped with a mood disorder label, ( e.g. bipolar I or II or clinical depression), before an autism diagnosis was considered a possibility?

Alexithymia, extreme empathy, and sensory issues, can and do mimic mood disorders but are rooted in the nervous system rather than just a neurochemical imbalance.

Context (the why) and a certain level of control over sensory stimuli can and do offer huge improvements to one's quality of life. This is why accurate diagnosis is so important. Comorbidities definitely do occur, but the prevalence is generally pretty even between males and females.

The skew with the statistic is rooted in the historical bias of autism diagnosis and misdiagnoses in females rather than an increased presence of mental illness in autistic females.

 

[Aspychata]

Another factor that may influence that 32% number of autistic females. Look at the diagnostic criteria and the historical gender bias.

What percentage of the diagnosed autistic females were late diagnosed (early to mid teens), after first having been slapped with a mood disorder label, ( e.g. bipolar I or II or clinical depression), before an autism diagnosis was considered a possibility?

Alexithymia, extreme empathy, and sensory issues, can and do mimic mood disorders but are rooted in the nervous system rather than just a neurochemical imbalance.

Context (the why) and a certain level of control over sensory stimuli can and do offer huge improvements to one's quality of life. This is why accurate diagnosis is so important. Comorbidities definitely do occur, but the prevalence is generally pretty even between males and females.

The skew with the statistic is rooted in the historical bias of autism diagnosis and misdiagnoses in females rather than an increased presence of mental illness in autistic females.

Excellent post, and often times we are misdiagnosed or told it's in our heads. It's the same if l have a heart attack and show up in ER, sometimes the odds are stacked against females in general, or other ethnicities.

 

[PastelPetals]

Another factor that may influence that 32% number of autistic females. Look at the diagnostic criteria and the historical gender bias.

What percentage of the diagnosed autistic females were late diagnosed (early to mid teens), after first having been slapped with a mood disorder label, ( e.g. bipolar I or II or clinical depression), before an autism diagnosis was considered a possibility?

Alexithymia, extreme empathy, and sensory issues, can and do mimic mood disorders but are rooted in the nervous system rather than just a neurochemical imbalance.

Context (the why) and a certain level of control over sensory stimuli can and do offer huge improvements to one's quality of life. This is why accurate diagnosis is so important. Comorbidities definitely do occur, but the prevalence is generally pretty even between males and females.

The skew with the statistic is rooted in the historical bias of autism diagnosis and misdiagnoses in females rather than an increased presence of mental illness in autistic females.

Yes that was me! I was 14 at diagnosis and they really did think for a bit I just had really bad mental issues along with learning disorders and some other bits but they were much more focused on how "crazy" I was. I was hospitalized once along with iop, php, and the like. I was hospitalized after diagnosis but at the time despite the diagnosis I was still treated like I just needed to try harder. I was over medicated at the time and stress combined with pharmacy issues with filling my meds caused a bit of a breakdown. Now once I was able to get my mental health in check it was much more clear I was autistic but I wonder how many others spend the rest of their lives treating what they think is severe mental illness. In an out of treatment, unable to hold jobs, put in dangerous situations over and over and all of that is blamed on an illness they don't even have. I am very thankful I was able to get my diagnosis. While it's not a guarantee of good treatment it is and was the reason I can be at all functional today.

 

[Luca]

I was hospitalized for suicide attempts as a result of severe bullying, because I have always been viewed as "weird" and "mentally challenged" by my peers. I'm still being told by certain people that it was my fault and that they don't feel bad for me.

 

[Aspychata]

I was hospitalized for suicide attempts as a result of severe bullying, because I have always been viewed as "weird" and "mentally challenged" by my peers. I'm still being told by certain people that it was my fault and that they don't feel bad for me.

So sad to hear this.

 

[MildredHubble]

So sad to hear this.

Me too :-( I'm sorry you were treated this way Luca! :-(

When I see this sort of behaviour towards others it really upsets me and makes me doubt the viability of the human race beyond the next few decades :-(

To be honest, I've had psychiatrists behave like this towards me when I've been struggling with horrible depression and anxiety. If I expressed having suicidal thoughts I was basically told to stop "attention seeking".

So this experience has made me rather reticent about talking about my suspicion that I may have some autistic traits. It definitely puts me off talking about my gender identity issues (for want of a better word) I'm pretty damn sure that would be seen as "attention seeking".