Influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs for the autistic community: Qualitative insights from multiple perspectives

Autistic individuals are disproportionately likely to experience suicidal thoughts, feelings, and actions. Addressing suicidality is also a high priority of autistic community members. The goal of this study was to understand broad influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs for the autistic community. Using a community-based participatory research approach, we conducted a reflective thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with 16 autistic adults, 8 family members, and 14 mental health providers. Themes summarizing influences on suicidality and suicide-prevention needs centered on three broad thematic concepts: (1) Pervasive negative societal attitudes and social experiences have a lasting impact on autistic people's feelings of worth; (2) negative experiences and stressors add strain, making life feel overwhelming and hopeless; and (3) difficulty regulating and managing emotions can increase the likelihood of suicidal feelings and actions. Participants provided autism-specific recommendations to incorporate into suicide prevention. The findings emphasize the need for multifaceted suicide-prevention efforts supporting autistic people through improved societal treatment, community-level supports, and individually tailored services.Lay AbstractAutistic people experience suicidal thoughts, feelings, and actions more often than non-autistic people. Autistic community members say this is an important research topic. The goal of this study was to understand broadly what kinds of things might lead autistic people to feel suicidal. We also wanted to know what is needed for suicide prevention for the autistic community. The research team for this study included autistic community partners using an approach called community-based participatory research. The study team did interviews with 16 autistic adults, 8 family members, and 14 mental health providers. The results show that different types of experiences can lead to suicidality. One influence is the negative treatment of autistic people. Negative experiences, challenges, and stressors can also make life feel overwhelming for autistic people. Finally, difficult emotions can be hard to manage. There are many things that participants thought would help autistic people feel less suicidal. The study shows that autistic people need to be treated better and need more community supports to help prevent suicidal feelings. They need individualized services to help manage their emotions.