‘I thought I was broken’: living with autism before diagnosis

Freya is 23-years-old and in her final year of university. Her teenage years were fraught with mental health crises – and misdiagnosis. She was first admitted to a mental health hospital when she was 15. After 5 years on waiting lists, she eventually went private and got an autism diagnosis.

And Freya is not alone.

A major independent review, commissioned by the government, has found that the rise in mental health problems is ‘real’, with a ‘genuine’ increase in need.  The proportion of 16 to 24-year-olds with a common mental disorder has increased from around one in six in 1993 to one in four in 2024, with young women now reporting the highest rates of any group.

#adhd #autism