Autism and mental health

Autism is a neurodiverse condition, which means that your brain works in a different way to other people. It can impact the way you think and how you see the world around you. It’s something you’re born with, and is a spectrum, meaning it affects people in different ways. Autism is sometimes called autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

If you’re autistic, you might: 

• Prefer to stick to routine and find changes to routines difficult – for example, you may find new situations, or a change in your routine, tricky to cope with. You might need some support to help you figure out what to expect.

• Have intense or specific interests.

• Struggle to understand or recognise other people's emotions and feelings. Or find it hard to talk about your own.

• Have communication and social interaction differences – for example you may have a literal understanding of language, and you might struggle with sarcasm.

• Have different sensory needs – you may be more sensitive to loud noise, lights, or crowds, for example.

• Try and mask how you are feeling – for example, you might feel like you have to ‘fit in’ by forcing something doesn’t come naturally to you, like eye contact. This can be exhausting.

Autism isn’t a mental health condition or an illness. But, just like any young person, if you’re autistic it’s important to look after your mental health.

Some things that can help to look after your mental health include:

• Keep to a daily routine if you find change difficult.

• Think about situations or experiences that make you feel stressed or overwhelmed, so when they come up you can prepare for them.

• Talk to people you trust about how you are feeling.

• Understand what communication and social interactions you find difficult.

• Understand your sensory needs and create strategies to help you manage, for example making sure you have quiet time to regulate.

If you have a friend who is on the autistic spectrum, and you’re worried about them, you could try to:

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• Find out how they like to communicate best – this might be through messages, writing things down, or talking whilst doing an activity.

• Talk to them in check in – you could choose somewhere quiet, with soft lighting, to make sure it’s a calm environment.

• Give them time – your friend might need time to process your questions and answer them. Silences might happen but give them time to respond and chat back.

All of the information on this page was created with practising health professionals. This page was reviewed in April 2025. We will next review the page in 2028.