Why Isn't Autism a Mental Illness?

Autism is a developmental disorder diagnosed from birth by a pediatrician, not an illness like mental health disorders, which are psychiatric in origin and diagnosed by a psychiatrist. While both conditions can affect a person at any age, they have distinct differences in nature and origin.

Defining Mental Illness

In layman's terms, a mental illness pertains to a specific thought, belief, or emotion. However, there is significant controversy around what constitutes “normal” or “mentally ill” behavior. For example, “Drapetomania” was once considered a mental illness due to the medicalization of enslaved individuals' desires to escape. Similarly, highly successful mathematicians and scientists might be labeled with conditions like Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) due to their intense focus and verification-driven tendencies.

Understanding Autism

Autism is a neurological difference. It can manifest as a functional difference, or it can be rooted in the microscopic cytoarchitecture or anatomy of the brain where the way one perceives things is different. For instance, some sensory senses might be extremely sensitive, which can be advantageous or disadvantageous, while some sensory or interoceptive senses might be low sensitive or one sense easily connected to another (synesthesia). Some cognitive functionalities might be extraordinarily advanced, or they could be slow or glitchy.

The Autistic Experience

One example of an advanced cognitive functionality is learning 10 new languages in an hour despite struggling to memorize a 20-line poem in a year. Alternatively, an individual might have a super duper sense of understanding sentence structure without remembering object names. Another individual might confuse between 5 or 10 familiar human faces yet be able to instantly recognize the difference between the coat patterns of 100 calico cats.

Autistic people often do not realize that other people, particularly neurotypical individuals, are different from them in many cognitive aspects. This condition is known as anosognosia. As a result, it can be difficult for Autistic individuals to recognize and articulate these differences, leading to challenges in diagnosis and accommodation, especially if an early childhood diagnosis is missed.

Overlap and Misdiagnosis

While there are overlaps between autism and certain mental health conditions like OCD, alexithymia, social anxiety or phobia, and overthinking, it is disheartening to see how often autistic individuals are misdiagnosed as having mental illnesses. This misdiagnosis can lead to gaslighting by medical professionals and the prescription of long-term treatment with high dosages of antipsychotics, which is often both unnecessary and harmful.

Conclusion

It is crucial to understand the differences between autism and mental illness. Autism is a developmental disorder, not a psychiatric illness. Recognizing and addressing the distinct nature of autism can help in providing appropriate care and support for individuals on the autism spectrum. Misdiagnosis and the subsequent treatment based on misunderstanding autism can have serious consequences, underscoring the need for accurate diagnosis and a nuanced understanding of both conditions.