Autism and suicide prevention

Summary

Autistic people are a previously unrecognised high-risk group for suicide (DHSC 2023).  Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, diagnosed by differences in social communication and adapting to unexpected change, differences in sensory processing and unusually narrow interests, and strengths in attention to detail and pattern recognition.  

Autism prevalence is approximately 2% of population. Tragically, autistic people are up to 9 times more likely to die by suicide than people who are not autistic.  Research priorities identified by the autism community are to improve our understanding of how to remove barriers to services, tailoring interventions to meet the needs of autistic people, and understanding suicide communication and improving crisis services.  

The project described below aims to improve our understanding of risk and protective factors and how services can be improved. There are important differences between those who think about suicide and those who die by suicide. Depression or loneliness are argued to contribute to suicidal thoughts, whilst practical factors, such as access to means for suicide are thought to contribute to lethal or near lethal suicide attempts.  

Project aims

Suicide research in autistic people, has, for understandable reasons, been primarily focused on the experiences of those who think about and attempt suicide and survive and we have a wealth of survey data available for analysis.  We aim to extend this by gathering data from those bereaved by the suicide of an autistic person, employing ‘psychological autopsy’ techniques within interview and survey-based studies to better understand risk and protective factors and gaps in services.

This research could reduce deaths by suicide. The proposed project aims to understand the help-seeking experiences of those who died and the experiences of those who supported them. This data will inform future suicide prevention priorities for the autism community. This project offers full support and integration within the suicide prevention team at the Autism Research Centre, and supervision in working with suicide-related data using a variety of methodologies. The student would be part of the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge (see www.autismresearchcentre.com). 

Contact details

Dr Mirabel Pelton - mp2162@cam.ac.uk

Opportunities

This project is open to applicants who want to do a:

• PhD