Suicide Prevention
Suicide prevention is our number one priority
Autistic people are being failed, with devastating consequences. They have a dramatically reduced life-expectancy compared to the general population, are more likely to have mental health problems, and report lower quality healthcare.
The statistics demonstrate the scale of the issues – autistic adults die more than 16 years younger than non-autistic adults; this gap increases to 30 years for autistic people who also have a learning disability. 8 in 10 autistic people report suffering from mental health problems such as severe anxiety and depression. And the two main causes of death in autistic people are suicide and epilepsy.
Of the countless issues facing autistic people – nothing is more urgent than preventing the growing suicide rates. Every day we delay taking action, more people die.
Research shows that:
1 in 3 autistic people have considered suicide, and 1 in 4 have attempted to take their own life
Autistic people are up to eight times more likely to die by suicide than non-autistic people
Suicide or deliberate self-inflicted harm is the most common category of death in autistic children without a learning disability
Suicide is the top cause of death amongst autistic adults without a learning disability
We believe this can – and must – change
This is why we’ve made suicide prevention our number one priority. We’re committed to understanding why the risk of suicide is higher in autistic people and what we can do to change this.
In 2022 we established a suicide prevention project team, bringing our charity together with expert researchers and those with lived experience of autism and suicidality.
In 2024 we commissioned over £500K of suicide prevention research project with the Cambridge University’s Autism Research Centre. Working in collaboration with the autism community, our aims are to:
- Understand the link between autism, mental health and suicide.
- Understand autistic people’s priorities for suicide prevention.
- Identify, create and launch tools and interventions that support autistic people and lead to a reduction in suicide rates.
Need urgent help? If you’re having a difficult time or you’re worried about someone else and you need support, please visit our resources page.
Take Action
Help shape our suicide prevention work by joining our Community Advisory Panel.
