Autism and Mental Illness: What's the Connection?
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Parents of children with autism were roughly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, than parents of other children, according to an analysis of Swedish birth and hospital records by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher and colleagues in the U.S. and Europe....This study is certainly not the first to suggest a connection between autism and mental illness. In fact, I've written several articles on the subject myself! What's your experience with autism and mental health? Have you seen or experienced a connection?Establishing an association between autism and other psychiatric disorders might enable future investigators to better focus on genetic and environmental factors that might be shared among these disorders," said study author Julie Daniels, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UNC School of Public Health's epidemiology and maternal and child health departments.
"Earlier studies have shown a higher rate of psychiatric disorders in families of autistic children than in the general population," she said. "We wanted to see if the parents of autistic children were more likely to be diagnosed with mental disorders.
"Our research shows that mothers and fathers diagnosed with schizophrenia were about twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism. We also saw higher rates of depression and personality disorders among mothers, but not fathers," Daniels said.
Comments
Well…
I’m a dad and I’m clinically Depressed and my mother has schizophrenia… So I am not really that surprised at this study, although it says mom’s not dads…
I’ve always thought there was a correlation between my mother’s schizophrenia and my son’s autism.
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Lisa Jo
The study has “limitations” as the authors themselves state in the article in Pediatrics. I do not believe parenting causes autism, and I do not believe that maternal personality causes autism but that IS one of the implications of the study as stated by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. at PsychCentral.com in A Link Between Parents’ Mental Health and Autism:
“Knowing whether autism might be more prevalent in families with a history of psychiatric problems could better inform future prevention efforts. Whether the link is passed via the environment (e.g., through the family child-rearing environment) or through genetics, or a combination of the two.”
Most likely it’s more genetics because
Schizophrenia is genetic.
SPD “sensory processing disorder” part of autism have been suspected to linked to anxiety disorders which are most likely genetic.
One thing not quoted here in discussion of this study was the following:
“The study suggests there is no evidence of specific transmission of specific psychiatric disorders — i.e. schizophrenia, depression and personality disorders — across generations, but that there is more a complex genetic diathesis, a genetic vulnerability, which increases the risk for autism and perhaps other psychiatric illness mediated by unknown developmental and psychosocial variables that are associated with the ‘turning on and off’ of certain genes,” explained one expert, Dr. Jon Shaw, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
Unfortunately, the view the public takes is overwhelmingly based on the spin the media puts on what it reports, rather than the actual study results, which means the immediate jump in reasoning is that most parents of autistic children must be, even if not visibly, prone to mental illness. The majority of people who simply read the news articles and don’t read the actual study will not realize is that the study saw “double” the risk of various psychiatric problems in parents of children with autism. Approximately 1% of the population has schizophrenia. If the odds of having schizophrenia are “double” for a child with autism, (and we assume the statistics are generalized to all populations) then 2% of the parents of children with autism will have been hospitalized for schizophrenia. That clearly does not implicate that the majority of parents with autistic children have a major mental illness. It does, however, indicate that the brain is a complex thing, and some type of genetic predisposition seems to play a part in the vulnerability and manifestation of various psychiatric illnesses and autism… nothing we didn’t already know.
The study also demonstrates nothing about the actual parenting or environmental factors that come into play, such as exposure to environmental toxins, abuse, etc. It is possible for a parent to have a mental illness and be medicated and successfully in remission. Additionally, the study did not factor in when parental illness/hospitalization occurred – before or after the diagnosis of autism in the child. Although it states that more women were affected than men, if parental depression or mental illness triggered after diagnosis, it is logical huge environmental (stress) factors come into play. It is also logical that known cases of depression would be higher after diagnosis in women than men, primarily because women are overwhelmingly the primary caregiver and coordinator of services for their child and also the more likely of the two to seek help. Schizophrenia and/or clinical depression is a horrible illness, but we can’t make assumptions and generalizations about parents based on this study that are just not there in the research. Unfortunately, because of the spin placed on this study in the media, many in society (and education in particular) are already doing that – it gives them a convenient “smoking gun” at which to point fingers.
Once again, it’s all mom’s (and dad’s) fault.
I have noticed for years that family members of individuals with autism have problems associated with mental illness. It is common to see depression, mood disorders, personality disorders, etc. in family members, not just the parents.
I have also noticed family members with drug and alcohol problems, relationship problems, and not able to hold down jobs.
This is true also in my own family. Because of the sigma of “brain illnesses” many families don’t want to accept this. It is easier to blame some outside source then to realistically admit to a connection.
None the less, I do think that environmental triggers are happening. But they are “triggers” only of an existing genetic problem.
There is no history of mental illness in my family or my husband’s family. Maybe we are not the norm, but there must be some kids who get Autism without the factor of history of mental illness.
Since some parents who have more than one child with autism, it’s clearly got SOMEthing to do with genetics. Most mothers that I know who have children with autism have had their own struggles with depression, anxiety, OCD, and other problems BEFORE the birth of their children on the spectrum. I have a list of similiar diagnoses, but that doesn’t make it my fault that 2 of my children are on the spectrum. Several of my aunts and uncles had autistic-like behaviors when diagnosing adults with it wasn’t as prevelant as it is today. And my whole family has depression issues, etc. So it’s fair to say there is definately a link. Michele Beth Wilson
damiensgram@yahoo.com
There is no history in my family or my husbands of mental illness or autism. No depression or OCD. We have four kids and only one has autism. Out of all the grandkids on both sides of the family Jonathan is the only one with a disability. This is why autism is such a puzzle. Every family is different.
I just wanted to add on my side and my son’s fathers side there is a history of mental illness, and not just of one specific type either. My son’s father has not ever been diagnosed however besides my own child, his father is the only other one I’ve seen have the same behaviors, only in the adult version. I have no idea of his childhood since that is a topic no one ever wants to talk about, nor had I ever seen pictures. He certainly could be aspergers. I myself tend to be a nut on any given day, but medically I have never suffered from anything but dyslexia.
My sister-in-law has one autistic son (Aspergers) age 17. Her ex-husband has attempted suicide and been hospitalized for depression. His brother and grandfather both committed suicide. She was recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. She has not been able to successfully be employed for 15 years–though she was an R.N. (B.S. too) but lost her job through stealing drugs at the hospital she was in. She has 2 other children who are not autistic. None of her 7 siblings nor their children have this illness.