Suicide is when a person takes their own life.
Suicidal thoughts are when a person thinks about and or plans to end their life. These thoughts include; thoughts of ending your life, feeling that others would be better off without you and planning ways to end your life.
Suicidal thoughts may present themselves as feeling:
- desperate like you have no choice
- overwhelmed by feelings of negativity
- unwanted or unneeded by others
- hopeless like there is no point in living
There is no one reason or cause for suicide or suicidal thoughts. There are many things that may lead a person to consider taking their own life.
Some of these include:
- Difficult life events
- Struggling to cope with life
- Feeling alone, isolated, hopeless, or like things may not get better
- Difficulties understanding people’s behaviour and expectations
- Poor physical or mental health
- Long-term illness
- Trauma or stressful experiences (relationships, financial issues, work issues)
- Repetitive cycles of thought, may lead to an intense focus on suicide
- Difficulties recognising, managing, and regulating emotion
- Psychiatric conditions; including depression, anxiety disorders, Bipolar Affective disorder (BAD) and others
- Delays in receiving an assessment for autism
- Difficulties accessing support
- Difficulties securing and or maintaining employment
When a person says they are feeling suicidal or are considering taking their own life, it is important to take it seriously.
If an autistic person tells you that they are suicidal, it is even more important to believe them, this is because they may not show signs that people typically expect. This could be because:
- they have differences communicating and interacting with other people
- they find it difficult to communicate their thoughts
- they may not want to/ or feel able to talk about it
Warning signs
There are a few warning signs to look out for if you are worried about a person ending their life. Some of these include:
- Making material preparations such as storing up medication
- Preparing a Will
- Giving away possessions, especially items known to be of significance to the individual
- Changes in weight/appetite
- Lack of self-care. For example, personal hygiene
- Behaving in an erratic or reckless manner, compared to normal
Training
The zero suicide alliance offer free 1 hour training on autism and suicide awareness which you can complete in your own time at home. This is useful for anyone wanting to know more about the link between autism and suicide. The link for the training is:
Autism and Suicide Awareness Training
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, it is important to get help now
For information on getting help in a mental health emergency or crisis, click here
For resources and services to support with emotional health and wellbeing, click here
