Suicide and Autism

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It is important to recognize the signs of depression or suicidal ideation in your loved ones. If you suspect a loved one is contemplating suicide take them to a licensed medical professional immediately. Only a psychologist, psychiatrist, or medical doctor can diagnose depression with suicidal intention. If you are contemplating suicide please stop reading and call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or dial 9-1-1 and get the help you need. Suicide is never the answer to any of life's problems, get help now.
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Dark topic, I know. I opened my Facebook page and found a news report today that made my heart drop. The report comes out of Prince Rupert, Canada, where a mother killed her 16 year-old, severely Autistic son, Robert, and then kills herself. Before you harshly judge Angie Robinson for her actions, please read the news. I am never of the belief that suicide solves any problems and I would never insinuate that I support her decision, but I understand the emotions that took her there. My son is high functioning and on most days I can feel my hairs turning gray, I can only imagine what our moderate to low functioning parents go through. She was not finding the help and services she needed to properly care for her son. She knew she was losing control and she was alone. This story saddened me greatly. I felt pity for her, her overwhelming situation and the deep sadness she must have felt. I also felt a great sense of grief for her son, Robert. None of this is his fault, he did not choose to have such a severe form of Autism and he probably did not understand his mother's sadness or how he could help her. This story also made me wonder. In 2010 the AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) states there were 38,364 reported suicides in the United States, which amounts to one every 13.7 minutes. What are the suicide rates in the Autistic community? 

Here is a link to the news article from The Province:   http://www.theprovince.com/news/Prince+Rupert+left+suicide+note+saying+could+longer+care+severely+autistic/9768605/story.html

There are lots of stories out there about murder suicide of parents in the Autistic community. I don't suggest you go digging for them, they are all very sad and some extremely violent. Ironically I cannot find any statistical information on murder suicide rates in the Autistic community. This is not only frustrating, but grossly overlooked. This is a very sad and real problem that faces our Autistic community. The lack of data in this community is disgustingly neglectful. I was able to find statistical information involving suicide and Autism, in fact there was a great amount of information released in 2013, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction, as far as knowledge is concerned.

Suicide in Autism is almost always relegated to the High Functioning and Aspergarian end of the spectrum. A group of Penn State researchers published their findings in Science Daily regarding this topic. They polled a group of parents of children 1-16 years of age. They had a total of 1,012 subjects, of which 791 were Autistic, 32 were non-autistic depressed children, and 186 typical children. They found that Autistic children were 28 times more likely to have suicidal contemplation or attempts than their typical peers at 0.5%. Four significant variables stood out in this study above any others; those four variables were 1- race, Black or Hispanic, 2- age, 10 and up, 3- socioeconomic status, and 4- sex, male. I think it is intensely interesting that IQ or the individual functioning level was not one of those four factors. 

Why is the suicide rate high among our high functioning kids? I believe this is due to two reasons, isolation and bullying. There is a level of discrimination in the United States, even if we do not believe it; perception is reality, if an individual perceives discrimination than it is real to them. That may be one of many explanations for the racial factor involved in the factors discovered by the Penn State researchers. Discrimination is a form of isolation and it can only be aggravated by the "odd" behavior exhibited by an Autistic personality. Autistic children are very frequently ostracized by their peers and have very few friends. They know they are different and it is frustrating to them. An obese teen knows they are obese and they are also subject to isolation or constant teasing from their peers. These two conditions are very different, but the emotional pain is very similar. Due to their isolation most HF Autistic or Aspie kids have low self esteem. It takes a special person to see through the behavior and befriend an Autistic individual. Never underestimate a true friend to your Autistic child. Due to their oddity and isolation Autistic children are a target for bullying. I have very strong feelings on bullying. Bullying is abuse! There is no other explanation for it. Bullying is peer on peer abuse. Bully causes long lasting effects and trauma on the victim, more needs to be done to stop bullying. I have some theories on how to handle bullies, but that is more appropriate for another time. Click here for more on this study.

Scientists are noticing a trend in the behaviors of HF Autistic and Aspies they call "depression attacks". Much like an anxiety attack these states are sudden and overwhelming. There is no warning for these events and usually there is always a trigger for the behavior. Interestingly, the amygdala of the brain tends to be 10-15% larger in Aspies than in a typical peer. The amygdala is located in the temporal lobe of the brain and controls the processing of emotions. The depression attack causes an overreaction in the amygdala, which causes a very strong physiological response. To read more about depression attacks and the physical reactions to one please see this link.

A lot of these studies talk about kids and teens, but what about adults with Autism or Aspergers? It is very hard to find any information about suicide rates among adults with Autism. One study published in the UK came out of Japan. The author estimates that adults on the Autism spectrum are 700 times more likely to attempt or commit suicide. This seems outrageous to me and to huge of a jump from the studies done on our kids with Autism. This disparity just shows we need more research. On thing they did point out struck me as being true, those with Autism are likely to commit suicide using very serious means and are usually successful on their first attempt. You can read this article by clicking on this link. 

It is easy to understand that depression, isolation, and abuse are major contributing factors to autistic adult suicides. A study conducted in 1981 with 34 Autistic subjects determined that 30% were also depressed. Another study conducted in 1998 on Aspies showed a similar result. In 2002 a very interesting scholarly paper was written compiling a lot of this information. In this paper the authors point out that in the general population depression is commonly coupled with other psychological disorders such as anxiety, this is also true in the Autistic community. If you want to know more about depression and its links to Autism I strongly suggest this paper, it is an easily understood and fantastic read: 

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/44620/10803_2004_Article_374852.pdf?sequence=1

Here is a link to another blog about Autism and suicide:
 http://questioning-answers.blogspot.com/2013/10/suicidal-behaviour-in-autism.html

Link to recognizing signs of suicide and tips on how you can help:
 http://www.autism-help.org/family-suicide-depression-autism.htm

I'm sorry to post such a sad topic tonight, but this is a very serious problem and it needs to be addressed. I hope this has helped you find the answers you may be searching for. For support, community, or helpful links to many organizations, please visit our Facebook page, Aiden's Heroes. Good night and God bless.