According to alarming data from Nottingham University, a substantial percentage of those who took their own life had an untreated case of autism.

For suicide prevention, the authors of the study advocate for earlier diagnosis and personalized support.

This is the first study to look into the link between suicide and autism, a lifelong developmental disorder in the United Kingdom. Researchers looked at 372 coroner’s reports from people who had died by suicide. Family members of the deceased were also interviewed by the team. The findings were published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on February 15, 2022.

The scientists discovered that 10% of people who died by suicide exhibited higher autistic symptoms, indicating undiagnosed autism. This is 11 times the rate of autism in the United Kingdom.

According to previous studies by the same experts, up to 66 percent of autistic individuals had considered suicide and 35 percent have attempted suicide. Both identified autistic people and those with high autistic features are more sensitive to mental health issues, suicidal thoughts, and behaviors, according to previous studies. The new study takes a step further by looking at coroner’s data for those who have died by suicide.

The researchers pointed out that there are other obstacles to getting an autism diagnosis, including a lack of diagnostic services and significant wait times.

Lead author Dr. Sarah Cassidy highlighted: “Many adults in the UK find it very difficult to obtain an autism diagnosis and appropriate support post-diagnosis. Our study shows that undiagnosed autistic people could be at increased risk of dying by suicide. It is urgent that access to an autism diagnosis and appropriate support post-diagnosis is improved. This is the top autism community priority for suicide prevention, and needs to be addressed immediately by commissioners of services and policymakers.”

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen added: “Even a single suicide is a terrible tragedy for the person and a traumatic loss for their families and friends. Suicide rates are unacceptably high in autistic people and suicide prevention has to be the number one goal to reduce the worrying increased mortality in autistic people. Autistic people on average die 20 years earlier than non-autistic people, and two big causes of this are suicide and epilepsy.”

Source: 10.1192/bjp.2022.21

Image Credit: Getty

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