Autism and depression. Helping individuals with autism get a good enough grip on life by means of cognitive and life psychological intervention

Abstract

Up to half of individuals diagnosed with autism are expected to develop a depression. It is assumed that inner neurological and cognitive disorders are specifically related to autism in general, and that individuals with autism have special problems with regard to living a good enough life. Therefore, this complex situation is about having problems with comprehending life in a sufficiently reality-oriented way and about being able to manage life and its challenges in a meaningful way, attuned to the basic demands and structures of living a life as such. On this background, we present an outline of an integrative intervention model drawing on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and interventions directed at managing both everyday life and major choices in life, namely Life Psychological Intervention (LPI).

Keywords:

• autism
• CBT
• life psychological intervention
• grip on life
• high functioning autism
• depression

Acknowledgment

Thanks to reviewer number one for useful suggestions.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.