Are aspies likely to commit suicide?

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They are often hated, shunned, disrepected, not taken seriously - and the worst part is that they are intelligent enough to perceive the negative feedback they receive from people. They are also unlikely to do well professionally. Their above average IQs and encyclopedic knowledge is of no use to them if they can't get a job. Many aspies are also unlikely to do well romantically; they live desiring something almost every normal person can have. That's why I say: if an aspie committed suicide, I'd probably be the last person to point his finger at him or her...

What do you guys think?

I'm sure the percentage of suicide is higher. That could explain why some sources say autistic people have shorter life spans.
I wouldn't say "likely" though. Each person has their own life, and if someone commits suicide it is because of their own life, not their diagnosis.

I know I've had some close calls due to all the rejection I've experienced in jobs and other social situations. It's not even a matter of caring what people think; it's a struggle for survival that would wear anyone down.

I know I would never do that because its not the Viking thing to do. Vikings fight to the death, they never surrender.

In all seriousness though, since it is tough for an aspie to hold a job and/or succeed in life, it definitely is definitely a higher risk factor. Hell, it made me marry far too quickly because I feared loosing the closeness -- even though I feel on edge a lot and worry about whether she'll leave me or not. I'm hoping to put my ability for encyclopedic knowledge to work in academia, but it's still uphill work. I can see for some why it could drive them to it though.

I don't think they're any more likely than NTs to do it.

Tim

This is the second time I've seen this basic thread started here this month, so I'm guessing yes, at least a little.

I for one only found WP after spending a few months on a suicide prevention board, and then realizing I didn't belong because I didn't have, well, REAL problems like unstable family life or sexual abuse.
Everyone there was so desperate that my whining just seemed too trivial.

I think about suicide a lot, but as a logical life-decision to make later on, like changing careers or getting married (my favorite suicide fantasy actually involves doing it on the altar, as a sort of cruel practical joke on everyone who knows me; Life SHOULD have a punch-line)
The few posters I've seen discuss it here have a similar attitude: that when there's just nothing but dead ends in life and no way to use their vast knowledge and unique insight to make any difference, they'll just quit. That's me. Suicidal thoughts are just like any of my other fixations: coming, sticking, and eventually going.

My guess is that, compared to other groups that are marginalized by society, our suicide rate is unremarkable.

Yes. Right now is good though. Better to be alive and suffering then nothing, cause you can't feel/experience nothing.

Last edited by joku_muko on 18 Oct 2007, 11:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

My mother helped to drive me towards suicide, but also made me fear it. I was too worried she would come and "save" me, and I would end up a vegetable. In the end, I figured WHY!?!? I take the risk, and it probably just isn't worth it.

I have a cousin who comitted suicide..and while I do not assume he was AS he does come from my very AS-seeming gene pool..was very close to my very AS-seeming grandfather before he died, and seemed to be having trouble relating to the world.
I can't say I haven't contemplated it myself over the years meeself....currently I am not in that mindset though.

How does that make sense? How is being alive and being miserable better than being nothing?
I don't understand that. Like, if you arent in a good mood or a bad mood, you are just in the middle, feeling nothing, you think thats worse than feeling bad?

I have gone through periods (including now) where it is rarely far from my mind. I do see it as a reasonable option if things get too bad, if certain things go wrong at the wrong time, etc. I am so worn out from so many years of the B.S., and I feel just flat out of energy to make the changes (quitting smoking, diet, etc.) that might make some things better. Maybe this will change. I hope so.
But I would not be unhappy if I got called back to the 'right' planet soon (that is - death by natural means). For me, the decision to live is made pretty much on a daily and sometimes hourly or minute-to-minute basis. I do consider myself a spiritual person but not a member of any particular sect. I do believe in miracles because I have been the recipient of them in the past. As my former friend once said to me during one of these crises about 12 years ago,(paraphrasing David Hume the philosopher), "Just because the Sun has risen in the East for the last xbillion years, doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen tomorrow." A bit of irony there, but I still laugh to myself when I think of it.
Cheers,
Martin

I don't think that people on the autistic spectrum are any more likely to commit suicide than people not on the spectrum.
Sure, aspies may find it more difficult in some situations, we might feel that we never fit in.
Everyone gets bullied though. Whether it be for being too fat, too skiny, too tall, too short, too smart, too un-intellegent etc.
Lots of people have relationship problems...not just people on the autistic spectrum. Some "normal" people never have a romantic relationship and some aspies do get married, have children in a stable relationship.

Sure, I have had my moments where life felt too unbareable, but lots of other people have too, not just aspies/auties.
I think that aspies may succeed more at committing suicide, reason being the logic in figuring out a way where they wont be "saved" and a method that WILL work etc. I also think that NT's are more likely to attempt it, but less likely succeed. Some NT's I have heard, try to commit suicide for attention, to say that they need help where words can't explain the pain etc.

Sorry for my tangent...but I really don't think that aspies are more likely to commit suicide.

That's me, too.

I had one failed attempt when I was in my early twenties and now have better plans in place for the future. I had a death obsession for a while and am now quite comfortable with the idea and some of the practicalities. For me, I now won't commit suicide over emotional issues, but when I get old and unable to continue with my life as I want to. My choice, my responsibility to myself and, in my perspective, no different to putting an old and infirm dog to sleep out of kindness.

After seeing a few Aspie, it confirmed what I already knew. Aspies are more NT like then I am. I use logic to make sense of the world. There are not many lie that I cannot workout intellectually. To be different in a world where an Aspie has not yet discovered logic, plus the entire problem that come with being different, that would make anyone feel suicidal.

Other factors that makes aspie more prone to depression is finding someone special. You will realize that the harder someone find getting a relationship, the more they need it. Or else they wouldn’t bother trying. I know that I wouldn’t bother as I am not a social creature, and quite literally dream how wonderful life is if I didn’t need anyone. I read that there is as much chance of suicide as getting married.