'I Felt Like I was Floating in Space': Autistic Adults' Experiences of Low Mood and Depression.
Amy Louise Jordan, Magdalena Marczak, Jacqueline Knibbs
PMID 32830302WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults described low mood as linked to feeling different, hiding emotions to fit in, and finding it hard to ask for support.
Several said visual aids helped them identify emotions.
Key findings
01Several participants described awareness of being different from peers as affecting their self-beliefs and mood.
02Several participants said they did not feel able to ask for emotional support because they believed relying on others would burden them.
03Participants who had accessed therapy often felt dismissed or misunderstood, and some said their therapist lacked enough understanding of autism.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included seven men and one woman, so it cannot show how autistic females experience low mood. Participants had Asperger syndrome and were excluded if they had a learning disability, bipolar disorder, or current crisis service contact, so the accounts may not fit all autistic adults. Three potential participants were excluded for bipolar disorder, so co-occurring conditions common in this population were not represented. No themes about suicidality emerged, but the study did not attend to that topic, so this is not evidence that suicide risk was low. Autistic experts helped with design only, not data collection or analysis. The study described experiences and did not test any treatment.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that visual aids or emotional literacy work. The study described seven men and one woman, and did not test any intervention.