What’s Behind the Rise in Mild Autism?

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I spoke with five researchers and clinicians who say they’re concerned about the possibility that too many people are being diagnosed with mild autism. They say that some individuals who have received these diagnoses might instead have anxiety or another mental illness. Others might not have any diagnosable mental-health condition, and may be incorrectly perceiving their typical social struggles as a sign that they have a disorder. “Some of those people absolutely have autism,” Catherine Lord, a clinical psychologist at UCLA who specializes in autism, told me. But some people who think, “Maybe this is the answer to why I feel different or I’m not happy,” may simply be mistaken, she said. This overdiagnosis trend, these experts say, can hurt both people incorrectly classified as mildly autistic and those with more severe forms of autism.

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Some of the experts I spoke with also told me that more people seem to be seeking out an autism diagnosis now than they did in the past. Having a precise label for social challenges or feelings of alienation can feel freeing and relieving. Unlike, say, those for schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, an autism diagnosis has become desirable to some people, Uta Frith, an emeritus psychology professor at University College London who was one of the first people to study mild autism, told me. She said that there’s been “a big increase in the demand for the diagnosis.” According to Fombonne, autism “has become chic.” Lord said that she, too, has seen more patients asking whether they should be diagnosed with autism, and many of them have relatively mild symptoms. Lord gave an example of a type of person she sees who has a high IQ, may be depressed or anxious, and is questioning their gender or sexuality. “So somebody really trying to figure themselves out,” she said. They “may be somewhat socially awkward, often have friends, but feel like there’s something missing.”

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