Informing international understanding of suicide risk in neurodivergent people

CW: the following content mentions suicide.

Approx 2 min read

University Research Theme: Social change and equity, Healthy people, families and communities

National health data indicates that there has been a continuous increase in the number of people seeking neurodevelopmental assessments over the past ten years in Scotland. It is estimated that 10-15% of Scotland’s population is neurodivergent. Support and diagnostic services of neurodivergent people in Scotland varies in accessibility and delivery.

In 2018, Associate Professor Darren Hedley and Professor Mirko Uljarević published a Systematic Review of Suicide in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current Trends and Implications in Current Developmental Disorders Reports. This paper presented the outcomes of 13 studies, reporting prevalence rates of suicidal ideation of 11-66% and suicidal attempts of 1-35%. The study was among the first to synthesise global evidence highlighting elevated suicide risk in Autistic people and the urgent need for tailored mental health supports. Associate Professor Hedley and Dr Claire Brown recently published an update to this review which can be found here.

Impact

The Scottish Parliament Research Briefing Neurodevelopmental Pathways and Waiting Times in Scotland, SB 25-25, directly references this paper in the section about the adverse health outcomes facing neurodivergent people. It cites evidence from the paper to highlight the severe and disproportionate suicide risk among neurodivergent people:

“Indeed, autistic people and people with ADHD have been shown to be nine and five times more likely to [die by] suicide than the general population, respectively.” Pg 51

This briefing discusses the design and delivery of neurodevelopmental services, including: