April 22, 2024, Psychology Today: The Autism Self-Harm Connection
How self-harm relates to autism and what we can do about it.
Self-harm affects around 33 percent of autistic individuals.
Low self-worth, impulsivity, and depression may predict self-harm in autistic individuals.
Autistic people tend to have lower self-esteem than neurotypical controls, possibly due to systemic barriers
My first introduction to self-harm in autism was with headbanging. While headbanging is a relatively uncommon version of self-harm in the general population, for autistic individuals, headbanging is much more common; in one study, it represented the most prominent form of self-injury in a sample of autistic youth. . . .
Self-Harm in Autism
. . . Self-harm is common in autism, and while estimates of its prevalence vary, studies have indicated that the problem may affect as many as 24 percent (License et al., 2020) to 33 percent of samples (Akram et al., 2017). Low mood and impulsivity have been noted as risk factors for self-harm in at least one autistic sample . . .
Self-harm is common in autism, but it doesn't have to be. By addressing the systemic problems that lead to self-harm while also providing necessary mental health support, we can address this under-discussed challenge.
