Having Autism

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Why Autism people have higher chance of suicide?

Because life is much tougher with autism.

Because the world is too lazy and ignorant to make major changes to help people whose brains are wired differently, especially adults and female people.

Oh, they made one hour out of the entire week at grocery stores sensory friendly? One hour for us to get at least one week's worth of groceries? Big whoop.

And then there's all the bullying, cyberbullying, abuse and so called "therapy" like ABA. We're just not allowed to be ourselves and NTs are always stressing us out worse by forcing us to be socially acceptable.

Anti vaxxers saying they'd rather let their children die of preventable diseases than risk them getting autism, even though it's been proven a million times over that vaccines don't cause it. How do they think it feels for an autistic kid to hear something like that? Do they think we don't feel anything at all? Probably, if they actually think. Or even worse, the autistic kid's own parents saying horrible things with the kid right there who can hear and understand what they say, even if they are non-verbal.

Unless we have a savant skill at math or whatever the media loves to make us look horrible. We're nothing but violent emotionless psychopaths with no empathy that are rude and nasty to everyone.

And they wonder why the suicide rate among us is so high. Why shouldn't be high? We didn't ask to be born at all, let alone into a world that won't accept us, so why should we go on living in it? Between the climate crisis and the nukes we're a doomed species, anyway.

Autistic folk are more likely to have mental health problems, including depression, which often results in suicidal ideation, which sometimes progresses to actual acts of suicide.

Some autistic adults fall through the cracks of society due to a late diagnosis, and lead an epic struggle of a life before receiving any sort of help or affirmation for their struggles.

Autistic people are more likely to be bullied, the negative feelings or trauma from which can lead to suicidal thoughts or suicidal acts. Financial problems can be an issue for a lot of autistic people, including mounting debts that some people see no escape from and feel that suicide is the only way out. This is usually because of low employment opportunities, specifically for people on the autistic spectrum. Social exclusion is also often a feature of autism, sometimes leading to the mental health problems previously discussed, as well as general isolation from family or society at large.

Masking can drain some autistic folk, particularly those with less severe forms of autism, and can lead to mental health that is bad enough for some people to contemplate suicide.

Life is disproportionately difficult for autistic folk, and society often marginalizes autistic people as a group, or as individuals.

The same genetic and environmental things that cause Autism might also cause chemical imbalances in the brain which can lead to depression and suicide. Also the core Autism symptoms of communication and social skills can lead to situations that lead to depression and anxiety.

My Autism diagnosis said anxiety was so common in Autism that the doctor wouldn’t even consider it a separate diagnosis. Anxiety is a mood issue and so is depression. Mood management is an important part of mental health self-care (think of it as mental health hygiene).

The next question is: what can be done to treat depression and anxiety and mood issues associated with Autism?

Medication and talk therapy both work. The two in combination work better than one alone (according to studies).

I was experiencing suicidal ideation a year or two ago. The actions I took were to find a talk therapist, talk to my primary care doctor and have a physical. I did an IOP (Intensive Out Patient) program in DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy). I increased my SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) anti-depressant. I also followed my physician’s advice and was tested and treated for Lyme.

I am in a better place now.

Kitty, at your group home in California do you have a counselor or case manager that you can talk to about these things? Such a person is often available in such situations.

Could you google DBT and DEAR MAN and try it?

Because so few try and understand and accommodate our needs

We do seem to be the one group the media can still make fun of.

The life outcomes I have experience due to having Asperger's have made me suicidal at times. Been out of depression for 2 years or so this time.

Loneliness, social isolation, comorbid depression, bullying, stigma, difficulty expressing emotions or misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose ASD preventing the individual from getting help, sensitivity to stress, inadequate support from family, community, and health professionals.

But on a slightly brighter side, statistically the probability of attempted suicide in those with ASD is only 4-5%, compared with 1-2% for the general population. Not great, but it does mean the chances are good that a given Aspie won't try to kill themselves.

TBH, I'd wager it has to do with the fact that mental health services haven't historically been very good at addressing the needs of autistic people. A good chunk of the things that people do are not easy for autistic people for no particularly good reason. And, there's likely a bunch of comorbidities that make it harder to just exist.

But, the other big thing is that if you don't have a decent social circle, there's a much greater chance of being in such a state and not having anybody there to disrupt things before they lead to an actual completed attempt. Sometimes just having somebody there at the right time to disrupt the process can be enough to stop it from happening.

It is also worth noting that Schizophrenia has a massive problem with this as well, and some of the reasons are probably related.