How this fits in

The recently published NHS Long Term Plan identifies primary health care, including GPs as the first point of contact, as key to supporting improvements in mental health outcomes for autistic people. Despite evidence of the increased risk of mental health problems among autistic adults, particularly those without a learning disability, relatively little is known about how these are experienced and understood by autistic people, and the implication this may have on GP support provision. Based in the context of wider evidence that young people face barriers or are disinclined to seek help for mental health problems, this study explored autistic young adults’ attitudes to managing and seeking help for mental health. It identified a number of unique barriers to help seeking for mental health difficulties, of which GPs need to be aware, and identified the need for GPs to feel confident raising mental health issues with autistic young adult patients.