Mental Health Inpatient Experience of Patients with Autistic Spectrum Conditions: a Phenomenological Study

Aims This study is pertinent to the current political and policy driven climate regarding increasing rights, choices, inclusion, independence and awareness for people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). Since the implementation of Transforming Care (NHS England, 2015), commentators have focused upon the reduction of hospital beds within learning disabilities and mental health services. This qualitative study explored how patients with ASC, a group known to be extremely vulnerable to psychological issues, experience admission to acute mental health inpatient facilities in the United Kingdom (UK). Anxiety is a common characteristic for people who live with ASC, but its recognition can be compounded by the difficulty in disentangling features of ASC from those of anxiety disorders. Despite growing acknowledgement that admission to acute mental health facilities should be a last resort, reported figures on admissions continue to rise (NICE, 2014) and there remains a dearth of research highlighting how those who are most vulnerable in the inpatient setting experience this environment. The lived experiences of those with ASC could nonetheless help to inform service development. Method During 2015-2017 phenomenological enquiry using qualitative methods facilitated one-to-one semi-structured interviews to capture the experiences of 20 adults from the East of England who were former psychiatric inpatients with an established diagnosis of ASC. Verbatim transcripts of audio recordings from each interview were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Findings IPA enabled the identification of broad themes, which explained in rich detail participant reflections on the situations and events within the acute care mental health facilities that triggered responses such as anxiety, fear, agitation and social avoidance anxiety. It was then possible to establish the broad behavioural patterns associated with their responses some of which has been reported by other commentators i.e., isolating themselves ...