Autistic LGBTQ+ people report frequent mental health problem

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ASPartOfMe
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17 May 2022, 9:13 am

Spectrum

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Autistic adults who identify as having a minority gender or sexual orientation are also more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to report diagnoses of co-occurring mental health problems, including anxiety, panic, eating disorders, substance misuse disorders, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Researchers presented the findings last week at the 2022 International Society for Autism Research annual meeting.

Autism is three to six times more common among people who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth than it is in the general population, yet scant research has considered the health consequences of this overlap.

The results likely reflect the ‘minority stress model,’ which posits that people who belong to a minority group experience chronic stress that can cause poor health, says Malak Enayetallah, a research assistant at the Simons Foundation (Spectrum’s parent organization) who works in Wendy Chung’s research group.

“The more minority statuses you identify with, the higher discrimination and stigmatization that you face,” Enayetallah says, “which could then explain the higher prevalence of these co-occurring conditions.”

Data for the study are based on 980 adults, aged 18 to 46, enrolled in Simons Powering Autism Research (SPARK), a large genetic study of autism. The participants completed surveys that probed past and current diagnoses of eight different mental health conditions. Participants also indicated whether they identify as male, female or nonbinary, and reported their sexual orientation.

Many autistic adults in the cohort belong to a sexual or gender minority: 55 percent identify as women, about 9 percent as nonbinary and 40 percent as LGBTQ+. Katherine Gotham and her team at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, devised the original survey.
Those who identified as LGBTQ+ were significantly more likely to report a diagnosis for every condition except substance misuse, relative to non-LGBTQ+ autistic adults.

While it is infuriating legitimate conformation of the obvious is needed in order to get things done.


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Offset
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23 May 2022, 3:20 am

There is a LGBTQ section on WP, (although it's useless damn it. smh. lol) and you should post this over there too.

I'm a gay black autistic man, and I'm interested in reading more about this. Thank you.



ASPartOfMe
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23 May 2022, 6:46 pm

Offset wrote:
There is a LGBTQ section on WP, (although it's useless damn it. smh. lol) and you should post this over there too.

I'm a gay black autistic man, and I'm interested in reading more about this. Thank you.

I just thought it would reach more people here. If you want you could request the moderators move this thread. I won't object.


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“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman


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25 May 2022, 3:21 pm

Back in 2000, I promised myself that I would not end up talking to a shrink because of my gender issues a second time. I ended up back at my local mental health office due to my Gender Dysphoria, three years ago. I was graduated in 2020 just to be knocking at their door just 2 months ago. They turned me away. I don't understand how they could turn me away and take in people who fit their gender roles and society quite nicely. I guess they think that wearing a German helmet is a good way of coping.


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04 Jun 2022, 11:14 am

I found the article "Autistic LGBTQ+ people report frequent mental health problems", 2022 in spectrumnews.org, but not detailed paper from the conference.
Some key points 980 autistic adults, aged 18 to 46. I assume that the study was included for "adults assigned as female at birth" or "biological females" only.

55% percent identify as women.
9% percent as nonbinary.
40% percent as LGBTQ+.

Those who identified as LGBTQ+ were significantly more likely to report a diagnosis for every mental health condition (the article referrer 8 mental conditions) relative to non-LGBTQ+ autistic adults.

40% LGBT rate for autistic population is too high compared with the 5% LGBT in whole population.

We know that correlation does not mean automatic causation, but let's exercise these questions:

Is there is correlation between LGBT and Mental conditions?
OR
Are the mental health condition related with autism causes the LGBTQ+ preferences in people with autism?
OR
The LGBTQ+ preferences in people with autism causes the mental health conditions?
OR
Is another factor in people with autism causes both LGBTQ+ preferences and mental health conditions?
OR
Are the autistic traits like lack of social understanding and sensory discomfort causes both LGBTQ+ preferences and mental health conditions?

In autism is common many mental health conditions due lack social skills causing social isolation, rejection, low-stem, anxiety, depression, specially during puberty. The over-sensory or under-sensory makes feeling of discomfort in the bodies. The black and white, obsessive thinking makes us to believe that if I'm not belong or accepted or understood by my gender group, I should be the other gender. It is clear to see the sequence of factors that can cause both mental health conditions and LGBTQ+ preferences.

The same applied for neuro-typical people, who do not have autistic condition, but they suffer of social anxiety, or trauma, depression, low-steem, or isolation can adopt LGBTQ+ preferences also and it is also documented in a 2020 paper.