
World Mental Health Day: Autism & Exercise
Written by Rhys. J | Senior Accredited Exercise Physiologist
To support World Mental Health Day, I decided to take the time to discuss an area that I have become quite passionate about – Neurodiversity. Neurodiversity, as a term, can be perceived as an ‘umbrella’, encompassing a range of conditions. I will be focusing on the psychosocial challenges that are often experienced by the autistic population specifically.
Autism is a brain type/neurodevelopmental condition associated with:
- Altered social-communication abilities (e.g. turn-taking in reciprocal conversations, reading social cues and preferences for independent play).
- Restricted and/or repetitive behavioural patterns (e.g. stimming).
- Insistence on sameness and routine (e.g. becoming anxious with spontaneous change).
- Altered sensory processing (e.g. hypersensitivity, Hyposensitivity, or sensory seeking)
- Hyperfixations that are often towards specific interests (e.g. obsession with a particular task or topic).
Autism is a spectrum whereby every individual will have their own unique and independent experience. What we currently know about autism has largely been shaped through researching boys and males. We are still learning about the different ways autism can present, especially in females. Females are observed to have higher rates of ‘masking’, a coping mechanism where they make a conscious effort to hide their challenges. It should be noted that masking can occur in anyone. To find out more about how autism may present in girls and women see https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au/ and https://www.yellowladybugs.com.au/Resources
Psychosocial Challenges
From very young ages, autistic individuals may often be faced with a greater number of challenges intrapersonally (what’s happening within their mind), at home, and in the community. These particular challenges will often shape and influence how they interact with the world around them. This can include, but is not limited to:
• Co-diagnosed anxiety and depressive disorders.
• More challenges associated with social engagement:
• Difficulties establishing meaningful social connections/relationships with peers.
• Difficulties understanding social nuances or social cues (e.g. sarcasm, body language, eye contact).
• More likely to experience social rejection, social withdrawal, and social isolation.
• In some instances, some individuals may be non-speaking or have limited speaking communication skills.
• More likely to experience a negative sense of self, with:
• Reduced self-esteem
• Reduced self-confidence
• Negative self-talk
• More likely to experience suicidal ideation and/or suicide attempts.
• More likely to experience trauma.
• May often have more trouble regulating their emotional and/or behavioural response towards a stressful or overwhelming situation.
The challenges portrayed above are just some of many that may be present at any given time. Oftentimes, an individual’s struggles may be invisible to the outside world around them
What supports are available?
Early intervention is often the key towards ensuring autistic individuals receive support and learn the skills necessary to be able to live a fulfilling quality of life. In the presence of mental health-concerns, the combined approach of Psychological and Exercise Physiology support can yield significant positive long-term outcomes.
From the perspective of an Exercise Physiologist, movement and physical activity is often a piece of the puzzle that is easily forgotten about or ignored. When performed in a way that’s meaningful to the individual and on an ongoing basis, physical activity participation can yield incredible benefits to a person’s mental health and well-being, including but not limited to:
• Improved sense of self.
• Improved self-confidence and self-efficacy.
• Can assist in becoming more motivated over-time to pursue different tasks.
• Improved mood.
• Becoming more tolerant and less reactive towards stressful or anxiety inducing situations.
• Can assist as an independent or adjunctive treatment (e.g. to psychology) in the management of symptoms of depression.
• Increases the production of ‘happy hormones’ (e.g. serotonin and dopamine)
• Improving a person’s ability to independently regulate their emotions and behaviours.
• Improves social functioning.
• Improves receptive and expressive communication skills
• Reduce maladaptive social behaviours
• Reducing instances of negative self-talk.
• Improved sleep, thereby reducing feelings of tiredness and becoming more mentally alert.
• Improved energy and stamina.
• Improved executive functioning.
• Cognitive flexibility
• Inhibitory control
• Attention and Focus
• Working memory
• Reduced repetitive and/or stereotyped behaviours.
What can we do?
When starting something new, the first few steps can often be the hardest ones to make – as the path ahead may often be seen as daunting. We might know where we want to end up, but we don’t know what we can do that’ll get us there. With regards to exercise, we may often have perceptions that it has to be ‘hard’, ‘repetitive’, ‘strict’, that it has to last for hours otherwise it doesn’t count, that we are too old to start… and the list goes on. This is absolutely not the case.
– Rhys. J, Senior Accredited Exercise Physiologist
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For anyone requiring additional support, PsychPhys™ works within a biopsychosocial model that combines the therapeutic supports of Psychology and Exercise Physiology. Our aim is to use a holistic approach to support the whole of a person, not just a singular part. We are just a hop, skip, and a jump away, and always willing to help out.